


Decoupled Reflections

by Boromerely



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Boyd Lives AU, Gen, So it's a complete AU, and before episode 26 was released, so anything that happens in episode 26 does not exist in this fic, this was planned after episode 25
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 23:32:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18537709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boromerely/pseuds/Boromerely
Summary: He walked over to Boyd’s room, and knocked on the door. He waited for a couple of moments for Boyd to answer. When he didn’t, Ned knocked again. This was unusual. Boyd was an unusually polite criminal; he would never leave somebody standing outside for longer than 30 seconds. Ned was about to knock again when he heard a loud thump against the ground.





	1. Chapter 1

Getting the statue was easy enough. He just had to worry about Dani blabbing to Mama. He could handle the repercussions of that later. What he needed now was to get his things back and get Boyd out of his life for good. 

Ned pulled up to the motel that Boyd had left him the address of. He took one last glance at the statue in his possession, before stowing it away in a small satchel. 

He walked over to Boyd’s room, and knocked on the door. He waited for a couple of moments for Boyd to answer. When he didn’t, Ned knocked again. This was unusual. Boyd was an unusually polite criminal; he would never leave somebody standing outside for longer than 30 seconds. Ned was about to knock again when he heard a loud thump against the ground. 

He tried the handle. It was unlocked. That was also strange; Boyd was known to be paranoid. Something was seriously off, and Ned needed to figure out what it was.

He swung open the door. His eyes adjusted to the darkness. The first thing he saw was the back of his own head. Or at least he thought it was the back of his own head, as he had never seen himself from this angle before. Then there was the disarray of the room. The lamp on the bedside table had been knocked over, the light bulb broken. The closet door was smashed in. The carpet had red droplets on it. The next thing he saw was Boyd, on the ground, with a bloodied nose, panting. 

The second Ned whirled around and saw him. It smiled. 

Without thinking, Ned pulled out the Narf Blaster and shot at the second Ned. He hit it square in the chest, ripping a hole through his sweater, and out through the back, leaving a singe mark on the wall. The second Ned howled in pain, and retaliated, trying to punch Ned in the face. Ned managed to dodge enough so the blow only hit in the collarbone. It hurt more than Ned originally thought it would, and when he looked at the second Ned, he found that it was no longer a replica of himself, but in fact, Bigfoot. 

The Bigfoot lunged towards Ned; opening up a rift behind him and trying to pull him through it. Ned dove to the floor, narrowly avoiding getting body-slammed. He skidded a little, and landed next to Boyd. 

Boyd was still sitting in shock; his hand on his broken nose, his eyes wide, flitting from Ned to the Bigfoot and back to Ned. 

“We need to get out of here,” Ned said. 

Boyd looked at him for a moment, his mouth opening to talk, but no words coming out. 

The Bigfoot regained its footing, and ran up to the two of them, lifting its arms over its head to swing down on them. Ned kicked Boyd out of the way, knocking the bigger man over. The Bigfoot’s fists hit the floor. Ned cringed when he heard the crack of wood, thinking that the blow could have easily broken bones. 

While the creature was raising its arms again, Ned rolled over to Boyd. Grasping him by his shirt collar, Ned stood, pulling Boyd up with him. 

“We have to go,” Ned repeated. Boyd nodded. “I’ll distract him, you run.”

Ned aimed the Narf Blaster again; firing at the creature multiple times. A few of the lasers hit, making the Bigfoot recoil in pain, allowing Boyd to slip past it. 

Seeing that one of its prey had managed to escape, the Bigfoot’s body swelled in size; blocking the entirety of the door frame. Ned was trapped. He gritted his teeth together, and held up the Narf Blaster. The creature screamed at him, causing the panes of glass on the window to rattle with the force of the roar. Ned reached his hands up, covering his ears the best he could, but refused to drop the Narf Blaster. Something in the ear that had the Narf Blaster occupied hand covering it popped, and Ned began to feel a wet substance trickling from it.

The Bigfoot lumbered towards him, an amused glint in its eyes. Ned shot at it again, but despite the size of the creature, the laser missed, flying over its shoulder. Ned cursed, and the Bigfoot swung at him, connecting with his side. The blow sent him flying, smashing into the broken closet door. Ned tried to pick himself up, but found his balance was off, and slipped back down into the splintered wood. He looked over at the Bigfoot, watching as it took a step towards him. He could now see the light from outside pouring into the room, and he could see Boyd standing there, unsure of what to do. 

Ned wanted to tell him to run, but the Bigfoot had reached him. A giant clawed hand reached down and hauled Ned out of the rubble, holding him off the ground by Ned’s neck. The fist tightened around his neck, leaving Ned gasping for air. 

It took a tremendous amount of effort, but Ned managed to get the Narf Blaster facing the creature, and fired into its chest point-blank. The creature withdrew with a scream, dropping Ned to the ground and tripping backwards over the bed.

Ned scrambled to his feet, and, walking like he was drunk, managed to get outside the room where Boyd was still standing. 

“You know which one’s my car,” Ned said, gesturing to the hulking food truck, and throwing Boyd the keys. “I can’t exactly drive right now.”

Boyd got to the car and threw open the driver’s seat door, getting in. Ned used the Narf Blaster like a crutch and tried to walk as quickly as he could around the front of the car to go to the passenger’s side. 

As he was in front of the vehicle, a rift opened about fifty feet away from him. The seething creature emerged, getting down on four legs, making like it was going to run at the car. Ned hobbled as fast as he could towards the side of the vehicle as the creature began to bolt towards them. 

Ned was barely on the side of the car, trying to open the door, when it surged forwards with a squeal of the wheels. Ned’s arm was ripped away from the door handle, and he watched, helplessly, as his new food truck plowed headlong into the Bigfoot. The car carried the Bigfoot for a couple of feet, before Boyd pressed on the breaks, causing the creature to flip over the top of the vehicle. The car then turned towards Ned, and Boyd pulled up beside him.

“Get in the car!” Boyd shouted, leaning over and swinging the passenger door open. Ned obliged, hopping into the vehicle. Within seconds, Boyd had pulled onto the main road, and was driving at top speed away from the motel. 

Ned watched through the rear-view mirror as the creature stood up, looked at the car for a couple of moments, and then disappeared through one of its rifts. Once it was gone, Ned relaxed, slumping into his car seat. 

Boyd kept on staring at the road, his hands clenched so hard on the steering wheel that his knuckles started to turn white. Eventually, the tension lessened from Boyd’s body as he said, “What. The. Bloody. Hell. Was. That?”

Ned sighed. He didn’t even know where to start. “I’ll explain once we get back to Amnes-” he paused. Mama probably wouldn’t want to see him with her statue in his bag, with a known criminal in his car. “I’ll explain once we get back to the Cryptonomica. You know, the place you stole my stuff from.”

“You better have a damn good explanation for this, Ned,” Boyd just said, as he started to drive back to Ned’s home. 

Ned paused for a second, and then just said, “I don’t, really.”

“Lovely,” Boyd said.

The two of them continued to drive in silence. Eventually, they pulled up the Cryptonomica. Boyd turned the engine off, and then sat in the car for a few moments. He glanced over to Ned, looking like he was about to say something, and then shut his mouth and got out of the car. Ned followed him in, still using the Narf Blaster as a crutch.

“Welcome to the Cryptonomica, home of the most cryptic cryptid evidence you will ever find,” Kirby said in a monotone voice from where he was sitting behind the counter. He perked up once he saw Ned. Then looked between Ned and Boyd for a couple of seconds, his brows furrowed in thought. “Uhh, hi Ned.”

“Hello Kirby,” Ned said tiredly. He took in his surroundings, and saw that there were a few customers, huddled around the Bigfoot display. 

“This is so legit, dude,” Ned heard one of them say, as they shook their friend’s shoulders. 

The other customer gave their friend a vacant look, and just said, “Sure thing.”

Ned rolled his eyes, and turned back to Kirby. “Keep up the good work. I’ll be upstairs if you need anything.”

“Ok,” Kirby said, still looking pointedly at Boyd. Ned gestured for Boyd to smile. Boyd glared back at Ned for a second, and then forced a smile on his face. Though Boyd was usually charismatic and convincing, his smile to Kirby looked like he was only barely holding back thoughts of murder. 

Kirby looked away from Boyd, back to the laptop he had hid under the counter. He began to furiously type. Ned just shook his head and led Boyd to the backroom, past his empty Chicanery, to the stairs that led to the part of the Cryptonomica Ned reluctantly called home. 

Ned realized, as he was walking up the stairs, that he hadn’t really cleaned the place in a while. He was usually the only person who came up here, so it didn’t really matter most of the time. But now Boyd was coming up. He really should have did the dishes at least. 

Ned unlocked the door, and held it open for Boyd. The larger man had to duck to get through the low-hanging door frame. Ned tried to remind himself that he didn’t care what Boyd thought about him anymore as he stepped into his dark, dirty living space. 

He flicked on the lights, and said, “Welcome to my home.”

“It’s... certainly something,” Boyd simply said, before he pulled out the only chair that wasn’t covered in laundry and sat down.

“Do you want some coffee?” Ned asked, trying to remember if that was the proper thing to do when he had guests over.

“No.”

Ned walked over to his kitchen, and began to fill the kettle with water. He pulled a mug down, as well as his instant coffee while the kettle started to heat up. He looked over to Boyd, and leaned against the counter. Boyd wasn’t looking at him, and instead was fidgeting with his broken nose. Ned knew it wasn’t the first time that Boyd had broken his nose. He was still handsome, even if the bridge of his nose was swollen and crooked. 

The kettle started to whistle. Ned poured himself his coffee, and began to scoop piles of sugar into it. 

Ned was in the process of stirring in the copious amounts of sugar when Boyd finally spoke again. “So... you were going to explain what just happened?”

Ned turned to look at Boyd and took a sip of his coffee. It was still too bitter, but he couldn’t just turn his back to Boyd when they were talking. Ned thought for a couple of moments on what to say, and landed on “Monsters are real.” 

“Really Ned, I didn’t know,” Boyd deadpanned.

“I fight them,” Ned commented, taking another sip. 

“I’ve noticed,” Boyd said. He paused for a second, and then said, “Where did you get that gun?”

“I stole it,” Ned said. Technically, it was true. There was no way that he actually bought the Narf Blaster. He wasn’t going to pay upwards of forty dollars for a toy gun. Boyd did not look convinced, but seemed tired enough to not push Ned on it.

Ned didn’t think it was a good idea to tell Boyd about Sylvain. He doubted that Boyd would even believe him if he told him that a giant cat from an alien planet enchanted his stolen children’s toy to make it hurt monsters. 

“So,” Ned continued, “About every two months, one of these things show up and I try to kill it.”

Boyd raised a brow at that, and muttered, “Never took you for a vigilante justice man...” before he spoke up and said, “You can’t do it alone. You almost died against that thing by yourself.”

Ned pursed his lips, “So did you.”

“I don’t fight monsters for fun,” Boyd retorted, picking at the dried blood on his shirt. 

“I don’t do it alone,” Ned admitted. He didn’t want to spill the whole truth about the Pineguard. Mama was probably already mad at him for bailing on the meeting, she’d be even more pissed if Ned brought in a complete stranger. 

“I see,” Boyd said. He put his hand to his brows, his elbow on the table. 

Ned just let him think for a few moments. He wasn’t sure what to say to Boyd. The man had ruined his life; caused him to get stuck in this god forsaken town, but he had also given him some good memories. Ned didn’t want him in his life anymore, but that didn’t mean he wanted him dead. 

“So,” Boyd started, breaking the silence. “Why did you even come to the motel?”

Ned reached into the bag, and pulled out the statue. The person who was sitting under the tree’s head had been snapped off. Ned winced as he looked at it. He walked over and set it down on the table. Boyd looked at it for a second, and then began to laugh.

“You brought me Shade Tree,” Boyd said. He reached out to the statue, and began examining it. Ned felt bad enough that he had stolen the statue and broken it, but he felt worse when Boyd’s hands were on it. He was tempted to reach over and rip it out of his ex-partner’s hands, but he refrained from doing so. 

“I brought you Shade Tree,” Ned repeated.

“Well, I can’t go back to England with a broken statue, can I, Ned?” Boyd said. 

“It wasn’t broken when I brought it to you!” Ned said, “It probably got crushed when I was trying to save your ass! Remember that? When I saved your ass?”

“I remember,” Boyd said calmly. Ned narrowed his eyes at Boyd, and took a sip of his coffee, trying to tell himself that getting angry over Boyd wasn’t worth it. 

“The thing is probably gone now,” Ned said. “You could go back to the motel.”

“Ned,” Boyd said seriously, “There is no way in hell I am going back to that motel.”

Ned sighed. He figured Boyd was justified in wanting to stay the hell away from that place after he almost died there. That, however, did not mean that Ned was okay with Boyd staying here. Ned was about to say something, but Boyd cut him off.

“You did keep your end of the deal,” Boyd said, and he pulled out a fob from his pocket. “All your stuff is in a safe in the Second Bank of Kepler. This key will let you access it.”

Boyd tossed the key to Ned, who attempted to catch it with the hand not holding the cup of coffee. He failed, and the key clanked to the floor. Ned stooped down and picked it up, glaring at Boyd once he straightened up.

“Now what?” Ned asked, inspecting the key. 

“Well,” Boyd leaned forward on the table, both elbows up, his hands supporting his head, “You didn’t exactly deliver what I needed, so I have a favour to ask of you.”

Ned frowned. He didn’t like where this was going.

Boyd didn’t wait for Ned to speak, and continued, “You’re going to let me get revenge on the motherfucker who broke my nose.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned wakes up to a surprise. Mama gets her statue back. Ned gets his things back from the bank. Aubrey sees the Flamebright pendant for the first time in five years.

Ned woke to the sound of the vacuum. He rolled over in his bed and checked his clock. The red numbers read 8:35. The Cryptonomica didn’t open for another 25 minutes... he could have been asleep for at least 15 of those. He groaned and sat up in his bed.

He didn’t want to have to face Boyd again. Ned personally thought that the man was crazy. If it had been him, and he had a choice to flee, he would have taken it. Ned figured it had something to do with Boyd being English, and having a fighting spirit or some other bullshit. Ned just wanted the man out of his life.

He reached his hand up and snapped in his right ear. Despite it being damaged, Ned could hear a little sound from it. He was reassured that he would probably make a full recovery. He didn’t want to have a hearing aid already. He wasn’t that old. 

As he was sitting there, the vacuuming stopped. He didn’t know if he should go out and face Boyd in his pajamas or not. Boyd had certainly seen him in worse than checkered boxers and a slouchy t-shirt, but it had been years. Ned decided that it would be best for him to get dressed, and slumped out of bed.

After getting dressed, Ned opened the door a creak and peered into his kitchen. Boyd was facing away from Ned, his hands busy in the sink. From what Ned could see, his apartment looked cleaner than it had ever been, even when Victoria lived with him. Ned wondered if Boyd even slept last night; there was no way it could have become this clean in just a few hours. 

He crept out of the room, trying not to alert Boyd of his presence. He managed to get to the door of the bathroom before Boyd turned around. He was holding the cup Ned had used for his coffee the night prior, drying it with a rag. 

“Good morning, Ned,” He simply said, and he turned back around to put the cup away. 

Ned glared at Boyd’s back, and slipped into the bathroom.

He got out of the bathroom, and watched as Boyd put away some plates. From what he could see, his cupboards had been entirely rearranged; organized in a way that made sense.

“When did you become a housewife?” Ned said, walking into the kitchen. He grabbed the cup Boyd had just put away, and moved his kettle onto the stove. 

“Since I decided that I did not like to live in squalor,” Boyd said, “How did you live like this Ned? I found things in the fridge that were so moldy I had to throw away the entire container.”

Ned shrugged, “It’s different staying in one place than constantly moving on the road.”

“I know,” Boyd said dryly, “They made us maintain our cells in prison.” 

Ned turned back to the boiling water, not really sure what to say to that. He got the instant coffee and sugar down. Boyd had even organized his food cupboards. Looking at how empty it was now that the space was maximized made Ned feel like he needed to buy a bunch of spices that he’d never use just to fill the space. His kettle started to scream at him, and Ned flipped the lid. He made himself his coffee, and added what seemed to be the right amount of sugar into it. 

Ned took a sip. He looked back at Boyd and then asked, “How’d you sleep?”

Ned hadn’t really looked at Boyd since he woke up, but now he could see how swollen Boyd’s nose was, and how dark the bags under his eyes were. 

“I didn’t,” Boyd said. 

“Oh,” Ned said, “Would you like some coffee?”

“Not that instant shit,” Boyd said, “Really, Ned, when did you drink instant coffee?” 

Ned shrugged. Instant was all Victoria ever had, so he just grew accustomed to it. He hadn’t been to a Starbucks in years; hadn’t even had a latte at the local cafe in at least ten months. They were stupidly expensive, and Ned couldn’t exactly afford a five dollar drink everyday anymore. 

“Instant is all I got,” Ned said, “So either you have instant coffee or nothing.”

Boyd pursed his lips, and then sighed, “You know what? I’ll have a cup.”

Luckily enough, there was just the right amount of water remaining in the kettle for Boyd. Ned stirred in the instant coffee and handed it to Boyd. Boyd sniffed at it, made a disgusted face, and then took a sip. 

“Don’t you usually take cream in your coffee?” Ned asked, and he went to go open the fridge.

“You don’t have any,” Boyd said. Ned looked inside his fridge. Boyd was right. He had also organized it. It seemed more empty than before, making Ned believe that Boyd had purged his fridge of the expired food. 

“I see,” Ned said. 

“So, Ned,” Boyd started, moving to sit down at the table, “What is the plan for today?”

“I need to talk to Mam- Madeline Cobb,” Ned said, “She’s the leader of our little monster hunting party.”

“Oh?” Boyd said, his brows peaked in interest. “This just got a little juicy.”

Ned glared at Boyd, and continued, “I need to return the statue, and then get my shit back.”

“And what am I to do while you go run errands?” Boyd asked. 

Ned checked his watch. The Cryptonomica should have been opened by now. He gave Boyd a smile. “How much do you know about cryptids?”

Boyd rolled his eyes. “You want me to run your tourist trap.” 

“Yes,” Ned said, “At least until Kirby gets here.”

Boyd sighed. “Do I have to talk, or just look pretty at the till?”

“Just look pretty,” Ned said, “Most of the displays don’t need explaining. Now excuse me.” 

Ned scooped up Shade Tree from where it was sitting on his table, and grabbed his keys, as well as the key Boyd had given him, from the hook on the wall. Ned gave Boyd a salute, and then left his apartment. 

As soon as the door was shut, Ned let out a loud sigh. He was not looking forward to going to Amnesty Lodge after he had bailed on the meeting. He knew that by now, Dani had probably told Mama what he had done. Ned glanced down at the broken statue. He was going to be lucky if Mama let him live after this. 

The drive to the Lodge was relatively painless. However, when he pulled up to the front, Mama stepped out of the door. Instead of her usual cane, she was leaning on her shotgun. Ned couldn’t really make out her expression, but he knew it wasn’t a happy one. 

“Hello Mama!” Ned said, trying to sound cheerful as he stepped out of the car.

“You have a lot of nerve coming back here, Ned Chicane,” Mama said, taking a step from the front door. “So what did you do with it, hmm? Sold it to better yourself? Do you realize how many mouths I have to feed?”

Ned cringed, and pulled out the statue from the passenger seat of his food truck. “I’m actually returning it.”

Mama stopped in her tracks, and then narrowed her eyes. “Ned. Fucking. Chicane.”

“Now I know this looks bad,” Ned said.

“Looks bad?” Mama shouted, “Ned, it is beyond bad! You better have a good explanation for this, or so help me!”

“I had a... friend come into town. In exchange for him getting out of my life entirely, I had to give him the statue,” Ned said.

“Oh, and you changed your mind after you broke it?” Mama asked.

“Well, actually, it broke when I was saving his life from the abomination,” Ned said. 

Mama’s angry expression fell into one of horror. Ned gave his best smile as he handed her Shade Tree. Mama let out a hefty sigh, inspecting the statue. Without looking up at Ned, she said, “How much did you tell this... friend?”

“The basics,” Ned said, “I didn’t tell him about the Pineguard, or Sylvain, but I did say I did it with a group. He wants to help fight.” 

“Is this friend trustworthy?” Mama asked.

“No,” Ned said immediately. “He... just got out of prison.”

“Fan. Fucking. Tastic,” Mama said. “We don’t need another criminal in our ranks.”

Ned tried to keep himself calm when he said, “We need all the help we can get when it comes to this thing. You do realize it has killed four people, right? It would have been five if I hadn’t stepped in!”

Mama sighed. She moved the statue to under her arm, and turned from Ned, beginning to walk back to the Lodge. She was at the door when she finally turned back to Ned. “Bring him here. I’ll see if he can be trusted. If not, then you’re going to have to deal with him yourself, Ned.”

With that, Mama closed the door, leaving Ned standing out in the parking lot. Ned stared at the closed door for a couple of seconds, before he got back in his car and sped off. 

He arrived at the bank within minutes. The parking lot was small, but since it was in the middle of a work day, it was nearly empty. He gripped the key tighter in his hand as he walked to the front door. He wasn’t sure if he could trust Boyd yet. Boyd could have just been lying about giving him his stuff back. This would determine whether or not Ned could even bring him to the Lodge to be accessed. 

The teller, Denny, was kind enough. He didn’t seem like one for small talk, which, in today’s case, was good for Ned. The two of them unlocked the safe, and Denny struggled to lift the box up to Ned. Ned took it from him, not expecting it to weigh as much as it did, and nearly dropped it. Denny had to help Ned lift it, and then held the door open for Ned as he tried to go out. 

“Lot of stuff in there,” Denny commented. Ned grunted in response. Denny watched as Ned waddled through the door with his box, and then asked, “Do you need me to unlock your car for you, sir?”

“That would be fantastic,” Ned said, and he turned so Denny could take the keys from occupied hand. Denny then walked beside Ned until they reached the food truck. He unlocked it, and opened up the back door so Ned could slide the box in. Afterwards, Denny gave Ned back the keys. 

“Thank you for choosing the Second Bank of Kepler, sir,” Denny said, and he turned and went back inside. 

Ned wiped the sweat from his brow as he faced the box. He used his keys to rip the clear packing tape holding the box shut with one swift motion, and opened the box. It was as Boyd had said; all of his things were in there, and sitting on the top was the pendant that Ned knew he had stolen from Aubrey’s house. 

He picked it up. It was one of the few things he had managed to get out of the car when Boyd had crashed it. It had caught Ned’s eye; the dark red crystal seemed to glint on its own. Ned figured it was worth a lot back then, but he had always kept it for some reason. He put the pendant in his pocket, for safe keeping. He knew he had to give it back to Aubrey soon. He just wasn’t sure when was the right time. 

Ned resealed the box, and made sure it was secure, before he slammed the back of the food truck closed. He got into the driver’s seat and decided that he’d drop his things off at the Cryptonomica before he did anything else. 

Boyd was waiting for him, leaning against the outside of the Cryptonomica, smoking. Ned noticed a lot of cigarette butts on the ground around him. Boyd must have at least smoked half a pack before Ned got back. He hadn’t even been gone that long. He figured that Boyd had picked it up in prison. 

“So you got your trinkets back,” Boyd commented as Ned struggled to get the box up the accessibility ramp. Ned glared at him. Boyd just smiled, dropping his finished cigarette to the ground and lighting up a new one. “Your employee, Kirby was it? Well, he thinks we fucked last night.”

Ned sputtered, and nearly dropped the box. Boyd laughed at him. 

“You don’t bring boys home often, I presume,” Boyd said, blowing out a lungful of smoke. 

“I don’t bring people home,” Ned just said, and he used his foot to open the door. Ned walked through, and then shouted back at Boyd, “You know you could help me!”

Boyd laughed again, but made no move. 

The Cryptonomica was quiet, apart from the relentless sound of Kirby typing. Ned tried to not glare at his lone employee. It wasn’t Kirby’s fault, he tried to convince himself, it was Boyd’s. Ned settled the box back into the Chicanery. He’d reorganize his prized possessions later. Right now, he had to deal with the nuisance on his front lawn. 

Boyd was nearing the end of the cigarette he had lit when Ned stepped back outside. 

“Oh?” Boyd said, cocking his head up at Ned, “You’ve come to join me?”

“I don’t smoke,” Ned simply said. 

“That’s new,” Boyd muttered under his breath.

Ned cleared his throat. “I’ve come to talk to you about... well about a lot of things.”

“Well, you better get started then,” Boyd said.

Ned paused for a moment, not sure how to gently phrase what he needed to say. Boyd gave him an expectant look, taking another drag on his cigarette. 

“Do you remember the name Aubrey Little?” Ned asked.

Boyd physically flinched when he heard Aubrey’s name, but quickly regained his cool composure. He dropped his cigarette, and squashed it with his foot. “Yeah, I remember Aubrey Little. She’s the one whose house burned down as we robbed it. Our last job. The one that ended with me in prison,” Boyd stated, before he turned and looked Ned in the eye, “I’m just surprised you remember her too.”

Ned gritted his teeth. He had remembered the name Little. He had kept up with the papers after Boyd had been arrested. He didn’t want him to know that, though, so he continued, “You’re not going to like this.”

“I already don’t,” Boyd retorted. 

“Aubrey is apart of the group that slays monsters with me,” Ned said, without skipping a beat.

“Oh lovely,” Boyd said, “You do realize she testified against me in court? She’s going to know my face, Ned.”

Oh shit. Ned hadn’t thought about that. He reached into his pocket and gripped the pendant tighter. Shit. He had really hoped he could take his time with telling Aubrey, but now it looked like he had no choice. 

“Oh...” Boyd said softly, “She doesn’t know you helped burn down her house, does she?”

Ned internally cursed Boyd for being so perceptive. “She’s going to.”

Boyd remained silent at that, and reached for another cigarette. Ned watched him struggle for a second with the lighter; his hands shaking slightly. He wondered what Boyd was thinking. He then shook his head. He didn’t want to know what Boyd was thinking. He just wanted him gone. 

“Just a warning, Aubrey can seriously fuck you up,” Ned said, “So don’t go messing around with her.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Boyd said, exhaling another lungful of smoke.

“Good,” Ned said, “Mam- Madeline Cobb- wants to meet you. She wants to see if we can trust you enough to help fight this monster.”

“And what do you think, Ned?” Boyd asked.

“I trust you about as far as I can throw you,” Ned said. Boyd chuckled at that. Ned continued, “Besides that, Aubrey’s going to be there.”

“Well then,” Boyd said, “You better make sure she doesn’t.... how did you say it? Fuck me up.”

“I’ll try,” Ned told him. He clenched onto the pendant tighter. “I have... some more errands to attend to. I’ll be back to pick you up soon.”

“I’ll be here,” Boyd said. 

Ned drove to the Amnesty Lodge for the second time that day. For some reason, he was dreading it more than when he was dropping off Mama’s broken statue. Aubrey was his friend and he wasn’t sure if he could say that about Mama. 

He let himself in, and tried to ignore the fact that all the residences of the Lodge were glaring at him. Mama had to have told them what happened, or at least they saw her confrontation with Ned. The only person who seemed to even remotely respect Ned was Jake, who gave him a small wave and came up to greet him.

“You here for Mama?” Jake asked.

“Ah no,” Ned said, “I’m here for Aubrey, actually. Can you show me which room is hers?” 

“Oh yeah, no problem,” Jake said and he began to lead Ned through the Lodge. 

Jake stopped in front of a regular looking door. Ned was surprised Aubrey hadn’t spruced it up a bit, but figured Mama didn’t want her to.

“See ya, Ned,” Jake said, and he turned to go back to the lobby. 

Ned let out a sigh, and then knocked on Aubrey’s door. 

“Come in!” Aubrey’s voice came from inside.

Ned opened the door and stepped in. 

Aubrey was laying on her back, her head dangling off the end of her bed, playing some sort of video game on a 3DS. Ned caught a glimpse of it, and figured it was one of the Pokemon games. Aubrey looked up at Ned for a brief second, and then focused back on her game. “Oh hey, Ned. What’s up?”

“Uh...” Ned wasn’t sure how to put it lightly, so he kept it vague. “I’ve got some things to talk about to you... What game is that?”

“Pokemon Black 2,” Aubrey said.

“I didn’t know colours got sequels,” Ned muttered.

“Black’s not a colour, Ned, it’s a shade,” Aubrey told him. 

“I see. May I sit down?”

“Sure thing,” Aubrey sat up, and snapped the 3DS shut. Ned sat down beside her. He put his hand in his pocket and gripped the crystal pendant. Aubrey seemed to notice that something was off, “What’s up? If you’re going to tell me about what you did to Mama’s statue, I already know, and I’m not that mad. Well, I’m a little mad, because we’re supposed to be helping Mama out, but not like, super mad.”

“It’s not about the statue, Aubrey,” Ned said, “Well, it’s a little about the statue.”

“Is it about the person you stole it for?” Aubrey said.

Ned’s throat tightened. So Aubrey knew that much. She just didn’t know that it was Boyd. 

“Can I tell you something, friend to friend?” Ned asked. Aubrey nodded. Ned took in a deep breath, and then pulled out the pendant. He tried to not notice how Aubrey’s eyes widened in shock. He didn’t give her much time to process as he continued, “See, about five years back, me and my partner robbed this big, old house. There were lots of antiques in there... worth a bunch... and well, we found this,” He gestured to the pendant, “But just as we got to this, we heard something outside, and we had to run... but before we left, we started smelling smoke. The house was up in flames by the time we had made it to the car.”

Aubrey had started shaking beside him. Her fists clenched tight on the bed sheets. Ned glanced over at her, and she looked away. She was looking down at the floor when she started to quietly speak. “You did that?”

Ned closed his eyes for a second, exhaling, and then said, “Yeah, I did that.”

Ned could feel static energy around Aubrey. He hoped that she wasn’t going to torch him, though at the moment he felt like he deserved it. He reached over, and opened one of her hands, sliding the pendant into it. Aubrey’s fist closed immediately around it, and she withdrew from his touch. Ned clenched his own fists, resting them on his lap, and said, “I just want to make things right.”

Aubrey’s voice was icy when she said, “Then get me my mom back.”

Ned tried his hardest to not make a choking sound at those words. He was scrambling his brain, trying to think of something to say back to that. 

Aubrey didn’t give him time to think. She slid off the bed, and said, “Let me guess. The guy you saved was your old partner.”

Ned nodded. 

“I helped send him to jail,” Aubrey told him. 

Ned nodded again and then looked up to Aubrey.

She had a cold smile on her face as she said, “I should have helped send you there too.” 

Before Ned could respond, she whirled around, and fled her room. Ned could see tears streaming down her face as she left. He put his hands in his head, and tried to not think about how he was ruining all the friendships he had; all for Boyd’s sake. That man just kept on ruining Ned’s life, without even trying. 

Ned sat on Aubrey’s bed for a while, finding it hard to get up. He just stared at the rabbit sitting in the corner of the room. Dr. Harris Bonkers’ beady eyes stared back at him as he chewed on his pellets. Ned felt like the rabbit was judging him on all his life choices. Ned figured that the rabbit had all the right to do so, since most of the choices he had made were shit. Eventually, the judging eyes of Dr. Harris Bonkers grew too much, and Ned got up from the bed, leaving the room once and for all. 

He expected Aubrey to be in the lobby when he got down, but to his surprise, she was gone. All the other residents of the Lodge gave Ned a glare; even Jake didn’t come up to say goodbye. Ned kept his head low as he walked into the parking lot. 

He was about to get into the food truck, when he noticed Duck leaning against it. 

“Oh,” Ned simply said. 

“Hey,” Duck replied. He didn’t sound angry, which was strange. Ned thought that most people he knew were mad at him at this point. Duck continued, “So I saw Aubrey go into the woods. She was muttering up a storm. I tried to get her to talk it out- y’know talking things out is good for you- but she didn’t seem like she wanted to chat. She did tell me I shouldn’t trust you, though. You have any idea what that was about?”

Ned gave Duck a blank stare for a second, before he said, “She’s right. You shouldn’t trust me.”

“Nah man,” Duck waved him off, “You’ve saved my ass more than once. Not trusting you would be dead stupid.”

Ned gave a pitiful chuckle at that, and made to go into his car.

“Uh,” Duck said, stopping Ned in his tracks, “You know, you gotta make things right with Mama. The Pineguard isn’t exactly going to kill this thing if we’re all too busy trying to kill each other.”

“I know,” Ned said, “It’s going to be hard to change Aubrey’s mind about me, though.”

Duck shook his head, “She’s a little dramatic, if you ask me. Must be part of the whole ‘Magician’ persona. I think she’ll come back around to you.”

Ned pursed his lips. “I certainly hope so. Now excuse me, I have to go pick up the new possible Pineguard member.”

“Good luck,” Duck said, and he finally let Ned get into his car. 

Ned slumped in the seat and then decided he needed to go pick up Boyd.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boyd and Ned go shopping. Boyd meets the Pineguard. Aubrey is missing. Ned apologizes.

Boyd wasn’t waiting outside when Ned pulled up. Ned figured that he had run out of cigarettes to smoke, and then got cold. He sighed. He hoped Boyd wasn’t going to ask him to buy him some. Ned couldn’t really afford to let Boyd smoke eight packs a day. 

He stepped into the Cryptonomica. Kirby gave him a small wave. Ned tried to forget the earlier conversation he had had with Boyd, mentioning how Kirby thought they were boning. He failed, and felt the tips of his ears getting red.

“Hey Kirby,” Ned said, “Where’s Boyd?”

“He’s checking out the Terrible Rodent,” Kirby said, pointing in the direction of the stuffed rabbit with antlers. 

Ned looked over. Boyd was crouching, inspecting the object as closely as possible without touching the glass case. Ned smiled fondly; Boyd probably didn’t want to leave any finger prints behind. At least that hadn’t changed about him. 

“Thanks Kirby,” Ned said. 

“Ned,” Kirby started, before Ned could walk away. 

“Yeah?” 

“Is he your boyfriend?” 

Ned frowned. “No, Kirby, he’s not. He’s... just an old friend.”

“I see,” Kirby said, sounding like he didn’t believe Ned in the slightest. Ned didn’t blame him. Lately, he wasn’t even sure what Boyd was anymore. He kept on trying to think that he was a nuisance, but he knew he was lying to himself. He was never going to admit it, though. Somethings are left better unsaid. 

Ned walked over to Boyd, who straightened up once he caught Ned in the reflection of the glass.

“People actually pay to see this garbage?” Boyd asked, gesturing to the Terrible Rodent.

Ned snorted, “No. They pay to see this,” he gestured to the Bigfoot display. It had a few manufactured components to add dramatic flare; like a cast of a large foot that Ned had made of clay, but the video was what people really came to see. 

Boyd walked over and watched the video. Once it was over, Boyd watched it again. Ned stayed behind him, quietly trying to read his ex-partner’s expression. Boyd furrowed his brows, and then said, “Is that... actually real?”

Ned gave Boyd a toothy smile.

Boyd seemed less amused, and said, “Did you actually fight Bigfoot?”

Ned shrugged, and then said, “Get ready to go. I’m taking you to Amnesty Lodge to meet the monster hunting gang.”

“Ned,” Boyd said. For a second, Ned thought Boyd was going to interrogate him about the Bigfoot video. He was taken aback when Boyd said, “Do you honestly expect me to make a good first impression wearing days old clothes?”

“You could wear some of my clothes,” Ned suggested.

Boyd made a disgusted face, and said, “I wouldn’t be caught dead in your 90s inspired thrift store finds.”

Ned rolled his eyes. True, most of the clothes he had gotten since he moved into Kepler were thrift store finds. He couldn’t really afford anything else. But he figured they were more like early 2000s inspired than the 90s. 

“We could stop by the hotel and pick up your stuff?” Ned said.

“I’m not going back to the hotel, Ned,” Boyd said. Ned studied Boyd for a second. He mostly seemed tired, but Ned was beginning to sense some paranoia. Ned didn’t blame him. He had almost been murdered by a shape shifting abomination. It didn’t help that the abomination had also chosen to look like Ned when it had done it.

Ned thought for a moment and came up with a solution that he wasn’t exactly happy about. “Fine. I’ll take you shopping. Just, nothing too expensive, alright?”

Boyd gave Ned a confused look, as if to ask when Ned became so cheap. Ned was beginning to wonder the same thing.

“Alright. Nothing too expensive. But I’m not going to be looking shoddy,” Boyd said. 

“Like your endless tattoos aren’t shoddy already,” Ned muttered. Ned twirled his keys around his finger. “Come on, let’s go.”

Boyd followed. Ned took him to the main strip of Kepler. It was barely a block long, but it had three different clothing shops, including the local thrift store. Boyd refused to go into the thrift store, and, naturally, picked the most expensive store to spend Ned’s money in. Several times Ned had to dissuade Boyd from buying a 200 dollar leather jacket. Boyd did, however, pick up a 50 dollar pair of jeans, as well as multiple shirts over 20 dollars. Ned usually didn’t even consider an item worth buying if it was over 20 dollars; for Boyd, that price seemed to be the minimum. 

They finished their impromptu shopping trip with Boyd carrying multiple bags of clothing back to Ned’s food truck. Ned was too distracted looking at his now empty wallet. He was going to have to live off the multitude of hotpockets in his freezer for the next month before he could afford anymore food.

“Now that you have clothes, can we please get to the Lodge?” Ned said as they got into the car. He knew that he wouldn’t exactly be welcome at the Lodge, but he needed to show Mama that he wasn’t lying. Boyd was also starting to get on his nerves. 

“Not until I shower,” Boyd said. 

Ned groaned. He should have expected this. Boyd had always cared a little too much about his appearance, or perhaps Ned just didn’t care enough about his. 

“You have to be quick,” Ned said, “No half-hour showers.”

“Ned, judging by your current living situation, I doubt your shower could even run for half an hour,” Boyd said. Ned bristled. He knew he didn’t exactly have the nicest place. Running a tourist trap in a nearly empty ghost town wasn’t exactly lucrative. The Bigfoot video certainly had helped his situation, but it wasn’t exactly making it rain money. 

“I’m sure the showers in prison were much, much better,” Ned retorted. His shower was fine. He had recently cleaned the shower head with CLR, so it ran smoothly. He didn’t know why he was being so defensive of his shower.

Boyd glared at Ned, “The showers in prison had no doors, Ned. Even your shitty shower is more private than that.”

Ned ignored Boyd, and just said, “Don’t use up all the hot water, either. The tank takes forever to refill.”

“I see,” Boyd said. They pulled into the parking lot of the Cryptonomica. “I’m sure you’re eager to see your friends. Stay in the car, I won’t be long.”

Boyd left the car, taking his bags of clothes. Ned doubted that Boyd was going to be true to his word, and waited a couple minutes before he, too, stepped out of the car. 

There were no customers in the Cryptonomica, just Kirby sitting behind the counter, working on the Lamplighter. The younger man didn’t look up from his laptop when he said, “How long is your guest staying?”

Ned shrugged, and then remembered that Kirby wasn’t looking at him. “I don’t know, Kirby. He should be gone soon.”

“He seems nice enough,” Kirby said, “A little scary looking, though.”

Ned supposed Kirby was right. Boyd was at least 6’5, currently had a broken nose, and was covered in tattoos. Any sane person would avoid him like the plague. Ned hadn’t even flinched when Boyd re-entered his life. He supposed he was just used to the sight of Boyd. Ned didn’t really like that fact and tried to distract himself by reorganizing the cryptid-themed bookmarks on the counter.  
Once the bookmarks were all put in their proper place, Ned supposed he should call the Lodge and warn them ahead of time. 

The phone only rang twice before Barclay answered it. “Amnesty Lodge, how can I help you?”

“Hey, it’s Ned. I was just calling about my, uh, companion,” Ned said.

“I see,” Barclay said, his voice cool and calm. Ned knew that Barclay didn’t really like him. After all, Ned was the reason why the FBI had even come to town. He had tried to keep friendly with the Sasquatch. Ned was brought back from his thoughts when Barclay continued to speak, “You should probably come soon. Mama’s getting a bit... anxious.”

“We’ll be there soon,” Ned assured Barclay. 

“See you then,” Barclay said, and he hung up. Ned listened to the dial tone for a couple of seconds, before he caught Boyd out of the corner of his eyes. The man was wearing his new clothing, a towel draped around his neck, his hair still wet.

“I told you to wait in the car,” Boyd said, before he eyed the phone, “You weren’t calling the cops on me, were you?”

“I would never be willingly within ten feet of a cop,” Ned told him. He placed the phone back down on the receiver.

Boyd’s shoulders relaxed. He said softly, “At least that hasn’t changed,” to seemingly nobody. 

Ned had heard, but he chose to ignore it. He didn’t want to dwell on Boyd’s perception on him anymore than he already had. Boyd was a nuisance, he reminded himself, one that he needed to get rid of as soon as possible. 

“Well?” Boyd said, “Are we heading to that Lodge or shall we explore your wondrous museum some more?”

Ned rolled his eyes, “Just get in the car.”

Kirby, who had been watching the entire exchange, looked from Ned to Boyd before he made eye contact with Ned. Lifting his hands, he made one into a circle, and pumped a finger into it with a wicked grin on his face. Ned flipped Kirby off, and prayed that Boyd hadn’t seen the obscene hand gesture. Kirby was a little shit when he wanted to be. Too bad he was the only person in town who’d be willing to work at the Cryptonomica. 

They left Kirby to his laptop and got back into the car. 

“Your employee thinks he’s funny,” Boyd commented.

So, Boyd had seen it. Wonderful. Ned could feel his face heating up.

“Don’t punch his face in, he’s just a kid,” Ned responded.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Boyd said.

The rest of the drive was uncomfortable silence. Ned remembered that the two of them had always been chatty whenever they drove around the country. They either were making plans about their next job, or just goofing off. Now it was always eerily quiet. Part of Ned wanted to strike up a conversation, but the other half told him that the days of joking with Boyd were long gone. Ned hated the fact that he was being so sentimental. 

They reached the Lodge relatively quickly. Kepler wasn’t exactly known for its traffic, but they were driving in off-peak hours. Most people were at work. Ned should have been at work, but here he was, driving his estranged ex-partner to meet his former friends.  
Mama was waiting outside for them. Ned was relieved to see that she had switched her shotgun to her cane; so she wasn’t planning on shooting Boyd’s brains against the wall, yet. 

Ned put the parking break on, and then turned to Boyd, “Stay in the car for now, I’ll introduce you.”

Boyd gave Ned a long stare but didn’t respond. 

“Ooookay,” Ned said, more to himself, and he got out of the car. 

He was walking up to Mama when he heard the car door slam shut behind him. Ned whirled around to see Boyd, walking up towards the Lodge. He gave Boyd a spiteful glare. Boyd returned the glare with a cheeky smile and caught up to Ned. They walked in pace until they reached the front steps of the Lodge. 

Ned could see Mama eyeing Boyd. She didn’t look intimidated like most people were when they saw him. She just looked tired. 

“Hello,” Boyd said, “I’m Boyd Mosche. You must be Madeline Cobb.” 

He extended his hand. Mama’s gaze flicked down from Boyd’s face to the hand, but she made no move to shake it. Boyd kept it hanging there for a couple more moments, before he lowered it in defeat. Ned tried not to laugh; so much for Boyd’s good first impression. 

Ned’s amusement died as Mama turned to him. “So, you weren’t lying,” She didn’t give Ned any time to respond before he continued, “Come on, we’re meeting in the basement.”

Ned made a gesture to Boyd, telling him to follow Mama. They kept two steps behind her, even if her pace was a little slow due to her limp. Ned could clearly tell that Boyd was taken aback by Mama. Ned didn’t blame him. Most people usually fell under Boyd’s charm once the initial shock of his appearance wore off. Mama’s instant disinterest was new. 

Mama unlocked the basement and opened the door, revealing Barclay and Duck. They were sitting in front of a whiteboard, Barclay holding the marker. The word “Alien” was written on the board in Duck’s handwriting and circled multiple times. 

“This is Boyd,” Mama said as she entered, pulling out a chair, “He’s Ned’s friend.”

Ned made a face at the word friend but chose to not say anything. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Boyd said.

Duck smiled up at him and stood up from where he was sitting. He held out his hand. “I’m Duck Newton, it’s a nickname.”

Boyd nodded and shook Duck’s hand. 

Barclay shifted on his feet but made no move to go towards Boyd. “I’m Barclay.”

“Nice to meet you,” Boyd said again.

“Alright, so let’s get talking about this thing,” Mama said. “So far we know it’s a shape shifter. One that’s highly intelligent too. It seems to be keeping an eye-”

“Wait,” Ned cut her off, “Where’s Aubrey?”

“She hasn’t been seen since you talked to her,” Mama said, a glower on her face, obviously annoyed that Ned cut her off. 

Ned’s heart sunk. Aubrey had gone into the woods, alone, and hadn’t come back for at least two hours. He knew that Aubrey’s attention span was short. There was no way that she could keep herself amused in a forest for hours. He was starting to come to two conclusions.

He was about to vocalize them when Duck commented, “She went into the woods by herself. Usually she goes with Dani. She might’ve gotten lost... it is a big forest, after all.”

“Or,” Ned started, “The abomination might have confronted her.”

“Shit,” Mama said. She tried to stand too quickly, and her leg gave out. Barclay shot forward, catching her before she hit the floor. Mama didn’t even skip a beat, “We gotta find her, fast. We have to make sure she’s okay.”

“You stay here,” Barclay said in a calm tone. Mama gave him an irate glare, “If the abomination is out there, you can’t exactly fight it in your current state.”

Mama cursed again, sitting back down in the chair. She looked up at the four men for a couple of seconds, before her gaze narrowed in on Ned. “You better find her, and she better be alive... or so help me Ned Chicane.”

Ned nodded fervently. He wanted Aubrey to be safe just as much as Mama did. He couldn’t help but feel guilty about Aubrey’s disappearance. If she got hurt, it was going to be entirely his fault. 

“Boyd, you stay with me,” Ned said, and he charged out of the basement. He didn’t really know where to start looking, as Duck had said, the woods were huge. He just made a beeline to the nearest path leading into the woods. He didn’t even check if Boyd was following him, and frankly, he didn’t care. Boyd could stay back. It’d probably be better if he did, as Aubrey would be even less inclined to follow him back to the Lodge with Boyd.

“Can you at least tell me what she looks like?” Boyd said, jogging next to Ned. So Boyd had followed. Ned wasn’t sure if he should be disappointed or not. 

“She’s... she’s Aubrey!” Ned said. He sounded out of breath already; they had been running for less than a minute. Maybe Ned needed to lay off the hotpockets. 

“Very helpful,” Boyd shot back. 

“Shut up and look!” Ned said. 

He followed the dirt trail the best he could. Snow was still on the ground, and the parts that weren’t covered in it were slick mud. He tried to maintain pace without slipping but found it difficult. Boyd ran next to him, seemingly effortless. 

It took only ten minutes for Ned to need to take a break. He was surprised he had lasted even that long. He bent double, trying to regain his breath.

Boyd turned, jogging on the spot, “Tired already? You can hardly outrun the cops like this.”

“I... haven’t had... to outrun... the cops... in a... long... time,” Ned huffed out.

Boyd looked amused at this but made no snarky remark back. 

Ned straightened up, “Okay, let’s keep searching.”

They continued this cycle for another half hour. Ned’s legs were starting to burn. Boyd didn’t even seem to be sweating.

“Ned,” Boyd said, stopping suddenly. 

Ned almost ran into him, slipping on the mud and grabbing a tree to prevent himself from falling. Ned took some time to catch his breath, “What?”

Boyd pointed to the valley to their right. Ned glanced over. There was a small spiral of smoke rising from the treeline. 

“We’re getting close to the campsites, we better head another way,” Boyd said.

Ned didn’t bother explaining and started running down the hill. 

“NED!” Boyd shouted, and Ned could hear him charging through the trees behind him. Boyd easily caught up to him, and grabbed Ned’s shoulders, stopping him in his tracks and pinning him against a tree. Boyd glared at him, “What is going on?” 

“Aubrey,” Ned choked out, “Aubrey has fire magic.”

Boyd raised an eyebrow. “Fire magic?” 

“I don’t exactly know why either,” Ned said, “She just has it. The smoke’s probably her.”

Boyd loosened his grip on Ned’s shoulders. “If you say so.”

“Let’s go,” Ned said, charging through the woods without a second thought. If anything happened to Aubrey, it was going to be his fault. If anything happened to Aubrey, even if she had just fallen over a log or something, it was going to be his fault. She may not like him anymore, but Ned still wanted her to be safe. 

Ned burst through the treeline into a small clearing. There was Aubrey, her hands ablaze, trying to back away from a hulking beast. Ned recognized the outward appearance of the abomination immediately, even if it was distorted and expanded; it chose to look like Dani. He wondered how long it had pretended to be the real Dani before it attacked. He dreaded to think of what Aubrey had confided in the creature with. 

The abomination swung at Aubrey, who avoided the full brunt of the blow, but still got clipped on the shoulder. This knocked Aubrey off her feet, and she fell into the snow, softening the blow with her hands. The snow put the fire on her hands out, so when Aubrey sprung back up, she had no time to attack. The abomination punched Aubrey in the chest, causing her to stumble backwards a few feet. Aubrey yelled wordlessly at the creature and sent a large fireball at it. The creature ducked, and the fireball struck a pine tree on the other end of the clearing. The creature screamed at Aubrey, who raised her hands to her ears and sunk to her knees.

Ned cursed, pulling out the Narf Blaster. He took time to aim, hitting the creature directly in the chest. This caused it to howl and take a few steps away from Aubrey. It brought its hands up to the wound. Ned took this time to run to Aubrey. He extended his hand to her. Aubrey looked at it for a couple of seconds, distrust clear on her face. 

From the corner of his eyes, Ned could see the abomination had recovered. It took a lumbering step towards them. Ned shook his hand in front of Aubrey’s face, urging her to take it. She had a blank look on her face, now, like she didn’t know what to do.  
The creature lurched forward, clasping both hands together and swinging them horizontally at the pair. Ned knew that he didn’t have time to get out of the way, so he just pushed on Aubrey’s shoulders, sending her falling on her back. The blow struck Ned in the ribs, carried him for a couple of moments, before Ned felt himself free-flying. He hit a tree with a sickening crack and fell face first into the snow.

Ned struggled to get up, his eyes filling with spots as he raised his torso up from the snow. He managed to turn to his side before he collapsed back down into the snow. He could see Aubrey from this angle, through the beast’s legs. She had gotten up to her feet, her hands channeling a fire spell. 

“Just run!” Ned managed to get out. “Run! I can handle this!”

Ned definitely could not handle this. He could hardly move without his limbs screaming in pain. 

“You’re going to die!” Aubrey shouted back.

“Maybe it’s better that way,” Ned muttered to himself. He could tell that Aubrey heard, however, as her face twisted into a frown. Ned pushed himself up on his elbows, dragging the Narf Blaster from under his body and tried to take aim. His vision began to waver, the abomination’s outline blurring into the background. 

It was then that Ned felt a strong arm around his ribs. He cursed in pain as they hauled him into a sitting position and leaned him against the tree he had been thrown into. Ned tried to look up at them, but all he could see was a blur. 

“I’ll be taking this,” Boyd’s voice came from the blurred shape. Ned felt the Narf Blaster being gently peeled out of his grip. He let it happen and slumped back onto the tree. He blinked a couple of times, regaining his sight temporarily enough to see that Aubrey had run past the abomination and was standing next to Boyd. 

“Hello again, Ms. Little,” Boyd said, “Sorry about our previous meeting. We haven’t exactly gotten off of the right foot, but right now I need a favour.”

Ned didn’t hear Aubrey respond.

“You keep Ned safe,” Boyd instructed. His tone changed from a kind, cheery one, to an angry one as he said, “I’ll fuck this thing up.”

Aubrey must have listened because the next thing Ned knew, Aubrey was holding his hands. 

“Okay, okay, okay,” Aubrey said breathlessly. Ned could tell she was panicking.

He smiled at her, and just said, “I’m sorry, Aubrey.”

“It’s okay,” Aubrey said, “Well, not really, but it’s going to be okay for now.”

“I’m sorry,” Ned repeated.

“It’s okay,” Aubrey’s hands were warming up against his. Part of him was hoping that she was just going to finish him off. Everything hurt so much. 

“I’m sorry,” He muttered.

“Ned, I get it,” Aubrey said, “I need you to shut up right now, I’m trying to concentrate.”

“I’m sorry,” Ned said, quietly this time. 

He looked from Aubrey’s brightly coloured hair to the blur he knew was Boyd. It was hard to keep track of the man, as he was moving so quickly. Every once and while there would be a bright line, usually originating from Boyd. Ned assumed this was the Narf Blaster. Boyd seemed to be holding up well against the creature. Ned was beginning to wonder if Boyd had gotten into a lot of fights in prison. It didn’t seem like him, but Ned felt like he barely knew him anymore.

Ned glanced down at Aubrey’s hands. They were glowing a soft orange colour. The colour spread to Ned’s hands as Aubrey’s brows furrowed.

Then, in an instant, the colour withdrew, shooting back into Aubrey and diminishing. Aubrey let go of Ned and put her head in her hands. It sounded like she was crying. Ned could barely hear her whisper, “Why didn’t it work?” 

Ned smiled at Aubrey. He could feel something on his lips and reached up to touch it. He struggled to raise his hand, but eventually brought it to his mouth. His hand came back with a red smear on it. Ah. So, he was bleeding. The impact must have caused some internal bleeding.

Aubrey gave a small gasp when she saw Ned’s blood. “No no no no no no no.... Ned you’ve got to hold on, okay?” 

Ned tried to nod but felt too tired to do so.

“I’m going to help your friend,” Aubrey said, trying to sound soothing. She stroked his hair gently. “You hang on, okay?”

“I’m sorry,” Ned just said. 

Aubrey stood up and charged towards the abomination. 

Something in Ned surged forward; fear. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to die alone with his friends in danger. He didn’t want to die without making things right with Aubrey. He didn’t want to die without making things right with Boyd. 

The last thought shocked him out of his panic. Boyd. So, despite his best efforts, he still cared. That was a bittersweet thought, as he hadn’t much time left to make anything come of it. 

Ned tried to keep conscious. He tried to keep the fear from resurfacing. He tried to focus on the fight, not that he could do much about it. He watched the brilliant light of fire come from Aubrey’s hands; he watched the laser come from Boyd.

The abomination shrieked at the two of them, and then opened a rift. Ned watched it disappear from sight. For a second, he thought it was going to come out from behind him and finish him off, but nothing came of it. 

Black spots began to litter his vision as Boyd and Aubrey ran towards him. He could feel Boyd lift him, he could even smell the soap that Boyd had used in his shower, but he couldn’t see Boyd anymore. Everything was dark. 

“Ned,” Boyd said, his breathing seemed ragged, like he was tired, or panicked. Ned couldn’t really tell in this state. “Ned. Hang on, okay? You gotta hang on.”

“I’m...” Ned managed. 

“You’re what, Ned?” Boyd demanded.

Ned’s ears began to ring, and his words sounded like he was shouting from down a tunnel when he said, “I’m sorry.”

Everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my friend Lexi!!!! She beta read the chapter for me! <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned wakes up in the hospital. Duck says some hard truths. Hospital staff antagonize Ned. Boyd takes a fall.

Beep.

Everything was dark. He was floating in this dark space. He felt like he was loosely connected to his body; like at any moment, the strings would snap, and he’d be freely drifting.

Beep.

It was bitterly cold. The darkness was leeching him of all warmth. As each second continued, he grew colder.

Beep.

There was a light. It was dim at first, but as each second passed, it grew brighter .

Beep. 

He reached out for it, and it encompassed him entirely. He was no longer in the dark. He felt warm, like he was being embraced. 

Beep. 

He wondered if this was what it was like to die. 

Beep. 

Ned Chicane’s consciousness suddenly snapped back to reality. He tried to open his eyes, but found that his lids were too heavy to do so. He could hear, but it was like he was underwater. There were voices, low and calm; there was more than one of them. They came and went as Ned strained his ears to make out what they were saying. The only consistent sound was the noise of the heart monitor. 

Feeling came back slowly. First, he could feel the metal electrodes on his skin. Then, the oxygen reading clip on his finger and the IVs in his arm. The last thing he felt was somebody holding his hand. He focused on the feeling. He was using the hand like a safety rope, trying to pull himself out of the fog.

His ears cleared, and he could make out the voices. He couldn’t remember who they belonged to. There were at least three of them, from what he could tell. Two seemed to be talking more often. The third only chimed in occasionally. 

“He’s lucky to be alive,” one said. It was one of the frequent talkers. They sounded bitter. “It’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” the other one said.

“But it is!” the voice responded. “It is! It’s my fault! He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me!”

“You were right to be upset with him,” the other one said, “Aubrey, it’s not your fault.”

Aubrey. He knew that name. He couldn’t remember her face. All he could see when he thought of her was a brightly burning fire. 

Aubrey said, “I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but it’s not going to work. Ned nearly bled out in the car. I couldn’t even heal him. The magic didn’t work. I failed him.”

“Didn’t he fail you, though?” the other one said. There was no talking for a while. The heart monitor beeped a few times. The voice continued, “Aubrey, sometimes, there isn’t anything, or anybody, who’s at fault. Sometimes, things just happen. You can’t control it. Nobody can.”

Aubrey’s voice cracked when she said, “Thanks, Duck.”

“We need to kill this thing, and quick,” Duck said. “It’s incredibly dangerous. Those Hornets don’t stand a chance against it.”

“And what makes you think we do?” The third voice finally said.

With that sound, everything came rushing back. He knew who Duck and Aubrey were; he knew who Boyd was. They were his friends. They were here with him. One of them was holding his hand. He still couldn’t tell which one, but it reassured him that he was safe. 

“Now, now,” Duck said, “We’ve killed these types of things before.”

“You’ve always had Ned’s help, though,” Boyd commented, “Now he’s out of commission. What are you going to do?”

“I thought you were going to help us,” Aubrey shot back at Boyd. 

There was an uncomfortable silence. Ned wished he could open his eyes. He wished he could see what was going on. He wanted to see his friends, he wanted to make sure they were alright. 

“I suppose you do,” Boyd finally said. “But I’m no monster hunting expert.”

“Neither are we,” Aubrey said. “We just try our best to keep people safe.” 

“I see,” Boyd said.

Ned tried to open his eyes again. Slowly, but surely, they cracked open, and Ned was looking up at a blindingly white ceiling. He turned his head to his right side. Boyd was sitting there, his hands clasped over Ned’s. From the way he was sitting, Ned was pretty sure Boyd didn’t even realize he was doing it. Aubrey and Duck hadn’t commented on it either. Ned doesn’t mind. 

“We have to find where the hotel Ned went to is,” Duck said, “That’s probably where it’s hiding most of the time.”

“Yeah,” Aubrey agreed, “I’ll go searching for it this afternoon. There can’t be that many run down- Oh! Ned! You’re awake!”

Boyd immediately let go of Ned’s hand. Ned gave Aubrey a weak smile.

“What’s it like to get mauled by a bear?” Aubrey asked. So that was their cover story. Ned wasn’t even sure if bears came out of hibernation at this time, but he figured the excuse worked in a pinch.

“It’s not the first time I’ve been mauled by a bear,” Ned said with a wink. 

“Ew. Gross, Ned,” Aubrey said, making a disgusted face, “Forget I even asked. Ugh.”

Ned laughed, and immediately regretted it. His ribs seared with pain. He wrapped his free arm around his chest, as if that would help. It hurt to even breathe. Aubrey’s smile dropped, and she held her hands over him, like she was unsure of what to do. 

The pain eventually settled down to a dull ache, not entirely disappearing. It was tolerable, though. Ned figured he’d just have to get used to this for the next little while. 

Ned glanced over at Boyd. He tried not to say anything about Boyd’s distressed expression. When Boyd noticed he was looking, his eyes snapped towards the ceiling. He leaned back in the chair, as if he was trying to put as much distance in between Ned and himself. He fumbled through the pockets of his jeans and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He took one out, and stuck it between his lips, chewing on the butt. He looked back down at Ned, noticed he was still looking, and his eyes flicked back to the ceiling. 

“So it looks like laughing is off the table for now,” Duck said. 

“Yeah,” Ned said, “I guess we just stick to gruesome topics to avoid the need to laugh.”

“I guess,” Duck said. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like shit,” Ned said, cracking a small smile.

“Don’t blame ya for that,” Duck said, “You have a couple of broken ribs, and your collar bone is fucked. Not to mention the internal bleeding.”

Ned winced.That explained why his arm was in a brace, binding it to his chest. If he really had been that bad, the hospital bill was going to be insanely expensive. He was probably going to be out of a business. 

Ned decided to change the subject, “So. What’s the progress of the abomination hunt?” 

Duck and Aubrey shared a quick glance. Duck grimaced, “It’s... it’s a little too close to the end of the week for comfort.”

“Oh shit,” Ned said. He had completely forgotten that the abomination could go anywhere after the week was up. They really needed to get hunting. 

“Yeah, shit’s a good way to put it,” Duck said. “The Hornets are also, uh, searching the woods for it so we gotta make sure we kill this thing before any of ‘em find it.”

“Well, let’s get it as soon as I’m out of here!” Ned said.

Duck sighed, “I really don’t know how to say this, but... we’re going to go do it without you.”

Ned’s heart dropped in his chest, and he stared at them in disbelief. Aubrey gave Ned a sympathetic look. Ned furrowed his brows at them, “But we’re a team! We do this together, we always have!”

“Ned, you almost died,” Aubrey said. “You deserve some rest. We’ll be fine. Boyd said he’d help us out.”

Ned did not feel reassured at that. Now he was putting Boyd in danger; he was putting them all in danger. He needed to be there, if he wasn’t, who knows what he could lose.

“I have to be there,” Ned said.

“Ned,” Duck said sternly, “You’re not going to be there. You can’t fight when you’re half dead.”

“Besides, Boyd’s not bad with the Narf Blaster,” Aubrey piped up. 

Ned glared at Boyd, “So you steal my stuff and my gig.”

Boyd still wasn’t looking at him. Ned knew his anger was misdirected, but he at least wanted a response. Boyd just carelessly chewed on the cigarette, staring past Ned, out the window. Ned was about to protest again when Boyd muttered, “You’d be dead if I hadn’t.”

Ned didn’t know what to say to that. He opened his mouth once or twice, but the words always failed to come to him. It didn’t help that his mind was still groggy with whatever painkiller they had put him on. Ned’s eyelids drooped down. He tried to stifle a yawn. He needed to look mad at them.

“We should probably get going,” Duck said, picking up on Ned’s tiredness, “The doctor’s probably want to check on you anyways.” 

“No, no, it’s okay,” Ned said. Despite this, Boyd stood up from the chair and started to make his way to the door. Aubrey followed him. Ned sighed, defeated. “Okay. I guess you can go.”

Aubrey laughed at Ned, and then just said “I could light that for you once we’re outside,” to Boyd. 

Boyd barked out a short laugh, “You’d probably light my face on fire.”

“Maybe,” Aubrey replied. Ned couldn’t hear what she said next, as they were too far away. 

Duck lingered in the hospital room. “I uh, think your friend is at least decent. He means well, I think.”

Ned smiled, “I suppose.” 

“Don’t worry about us,” Duck continued, “You’ve done enough, Ned. Really, truly, you’ve done enough about this abomination. All you should focus on is getting better.”

Ned tried to take those words to heart, he really did, but there was something unsettling about them. He hadn’t done enough. All he had caused were problems. 

“Ned?” Duck said.

“Yes?” Ned said.

“Try to relax, okay?” Duck told him. 

“Will do,” Ned reassured him. He could try all he wanted, he wasn’t going to be able to relax.

“See ya soon,” Duck said, and he left the room, leaving Ned by himself.

Ned tried to settle down in his bed. It was hard to get comfortable, since he was hooked up to so many machines. Anytime he tried to move his arm, he could feel the IV needle tug at his skin. He grumbled to himself. Hospitals were the absolute worst. 

He glanced over to the chair Boyd had been sitting on. Ned noticed that Boyd had forgotten his jacket, leaving it draped over the chair. Boyd was never one to forget things; he was always meticulous whenever they left a place, never leaving evidence behind. He must have really wanted to leave. 

That stung a little. Ned tried to push it down. Boyd didn’t owe him anything, especially now, after Ned had abandoned him. After Ned had left him in jail and never wrote even once. Ned had followed the case the best he could when it had happened. He even knew what prison Boyd had been staying in. He was just a coward, and Boyd knew that. Boyd probably resented him for it, he was just keeping a pleasant face because he was just polite. 

Ned cursed to himself. He really fucked up everything. It was probably for the best that Boyd left after this hunt was over. His thoughts from when he was bleeding out were just a scared man’s farce. Ned didn’t need to make things right with Boyd. He just needed Boyd to get out of his life once and for all. 

He tried not to notice how much it hurt to think that now. 

Eventually, Ned’s thoughts began to slow, getting mangled with the drowsiness his painkillers provided. Ned was relieved when he finally slipped into unconsciousness. 

The medication, though it helped him to feel initially sleepy, did not offer the mercy of a lack of dreams. Mostly, it was just odd flashes of colour, mixed in with faces of people he both knew but didn’t know at the same time. All of them kept turning into monsters, and would kill him. Despite his apparent deaths, Ned would come back to the same spot. Ned kept on trying to run from them, but he was frozen in place. 

After a while, he recognized the faces. Aubrey. Duck. Boyd. Boyd. Boyd. So many times he watched them turn. So many times they killed him. Ned gave up trying to fight, and accepted his fate. 

His heart was beating rapidly when he woke up to the sound of his hospital door opening. It took Ned a while to realize that what he had just experienced was a dream. He looked up to see a nurse with a clipboard standing in front of his door. 

“Hello?” Ned managed to get out. The nurse smiled at him, but said nothing. Ned furrowed his brows. He hadn’t been to the hospital frequently in his life, but his past experience after the jetpack told him that nurses were generally friendly. This nurse was an outlier. 

She walked up to him and checked on his machines. She shut the sound of his heart monitor off. She then began to fidget with the cabinet. Her back was turned to Ned, so he couldn’t see what she was doing. 

“Hello?” Ned asked again. 

The nurse, again, didn’t say anything. She turned around, holding a syringe filled with liquid. Finally, she spoke. “The doctor has ordered me to give you some more painkillers, Mr. Chicane.”

Ned immediately knew that something was wrong. He had an IV for painkillers, why would they need to inject them into him? He shifted slightly away from the nurse. “I, uh, don’t really need any more painkillers. I’m doing quite alright as is, so you can just dispose of that and leave me be!”

“Mr. Chicane, the doctor was quite insistent that you have more painkillers,” The nurse pressed. She then brought up her free hand to stifle a cough. When she lowered it, there was a small splash of blood in the corner of her mouth. 

Ned sat up.

“Mr. Chicane, you need to lay back down!” The nurse said. 

“Ah, I’m going to get some help from a doctor,” Ned told her. He swung his legs out of the bed, and tried to stand. His legs wobbled a bit, but they held strong. He tried to pull towards the door, but found he was tethered to the stationary IV stand. Whenever he tried to move, the needle pulled at his skin. Ned looked at the heart rate monitor and tried to tug away from it. The electrodes held strong. He was trapped.

“Mr. Chicane, I insist you get back on your bed!” The nurse said. 

“No thank you,” Ned said, looking at the door. He needed to get out of here, he needed to get somebody to come in. He needed help. 

“Ned,” a familiar voice said. Ned turned to where the nurse had been standing, and saw that Boyd was there instead, holding the syringe. “Ned, you need to sit down.”

Ned panicked. If the shapeshifter had turned into Boyd, had mimicked his voice so well... it must have gotten him. He didn’t want to think of Boyd, dead somewhere, with this creature taking his place. Ned’s breathing began to quicken.

“Ned,” the Boyd in the room said, “You need to sit back down and take your medication. Be good for the doctors.”

“No!” Ned just said, “You’re not him!”

The Boyd stopped in its tracks. He smiled at Ned. “You’re right. I’m not him.”

The Boyd lunged at him. Ned barely managed to dodge the attack, essentially dropping to the floor. The IV ripped from his arm. His ribs screamed at him as he moved. He knew he couldn’t stay here, but the electrodes refused to pop off. He struggled with one hand, trying to peel them off his chest. What would have been difficult already was made more so by the fact that Ned was shaking so much. If he got them off, the heart monitor would alert the doctors that he had flat-lined. They would come to help him.

The Boyd stood up to his full height, and stood over Ned. Ned closed his eyes. He knew what was going to happen. He didn’t want the last thing he saw to be his ex-partner’s hate-filled face. He tried to think of Boyd smiling. 

The door opened. “Sorry to bother you, Ned, I forgot my jack-” 

 

Ned’s eyes flashed open, and the first thing he saw was the real Boyd charging at the fake one. The two fell to the floor and wrestled for a bit.The syringe cracked, its liquid pouring out onto the floor. 

Ned tried to keep track of the real Boyd. His head was spinning, and his vision was beginning to blur again, but he tried to keep track. It was hard. The shapeshifter had even mimicked Boyd’s clothing down to a tee. Black spots littered his vision. Ned gave up, and just hoped that the real Boyd won. 

He wanted to help, but his limbs refused to move. He was bleeding from where the IV had been torn out. He leaned his head against the hospital bed, trying to center himself. He closed his eyes. He needed to calm down, but it was difficult when there were two men trying to kill each other in the room.

Ned’s eyes flashed open when he heard a crashing sound. He saw a Boyd standing up, the other being held out the broken window. Ned didn’t know which was which. The Boyd out the window looked at Ned. 

“H-Help,” He choked out. 

Ned tried to get up. His legs gave out under him, and he fell back to the floor. 

The other Boyd let go, and Ned watched helplessly as one of them fell from the window. He heard him scream as he fell down, and then silence. 

“Ned,” The remaining Boyd said, sounding out of breath “Ned, it’s going to be okay.”

Ned did not believe him. The Boyd walked over to him, bending down to put a hand on Ned’s shoulder. Ned flinched away from it.

“Ned,” the Boyd said, trying to be soothing. “Ned, it’s me.”

All Ned could think about was what the other Boyd probably looked like, smeared all over the pavement of the hospital parking lot. He took in a shuddering breath, and tried to get up again. He needed to get away from this place.

Ned’s legs gave out again, and Boyd caught him. Ned struggled to get out of the Boyd’s arms. 

“Ned, calm down,” the Boyd said. “Ned. It’s okay. It’s gone. It can’t hurt you anymore. Ned, you’re going to be okay.”

Ned gave up. He knew he could fight this. He just had to accept that he was going to die. 

“Ned,” the Boyd said, and then he sighed, “Ned you know me.”

“I don’t know if you’re him,” Ned just said.

The Boyd’s face fell. He gently began to speak, “Ned. I came to America when I was 23, I wanted to animate for Disney. When I got turned down, I tried to be a street artist, but I found that stealing art was more lucrative than making it. I met you in a fumigated house. You gave me a false name when I introduced myself...”

Ned didn’t know if he could trust this. The creature could steal memories too, he could just be repeating all the stuff it stole from Boyd to lure him into a false sense of security. 

“Ned,” The Boyd said again. Ned looked at him. Boyd took in a deep breath, and just said, “I used to think I would be okay with dying, until I met you.”

Ned just looked at the Boyd, finally he said, “What’s my last name?”

“Legally?” Boyd asked. 

Ned nodded. This was something he hadn’t thought of in years. Something the monster couldn’t know.

The Boyd just smiled softly. “Mosche.”

Ned immediately relaxed in Boyd’s arms. He was safe. Boyd was safe. Everything was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my beta reader Lexi! You make this 10 times more fun to write!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned makes a decision. Boyd and Aubrey talk. Ned leaves the hospital. Something's up with Jake.

They had a hard time explaining why the window was broken in Ned’s room. Ned was barely conscious when the doctors came in. He thought he heard Boyd say something about Ned being delirious and breaking the window by accident. There wasn’t a body in the parking lot to say otherwise. The abomination had survived the fall.

Luckily for both of them, Boyd’s charm was effective, and Ned got moved to a different room without very many questions asked. He also noticed, however, that the room he was given had smaller windows; not large enough for a person to fall through.

Boyd had stayed with him the whole time. Even when Ned had lost consciousness, he could still sense that Boyd was in the room with him. Ned was grateful for that. The abomination was still out there, somewhere, and it might be coming back to get him. 

Ned spent the rest of the night coming in and out of consciousness. Boyd kept on holding his hand throughout the night. Ned couldn’t really talk much when he was awake, but Boyd didn’t seem to mind. Boyd talked to him whenever he noticed Ned’s eyes opened. He never said anything of substance, but it was comforting to hear his voice. 

The next morning, Ned got a slew of visitors. Aubrey and Duck had come back to see him. They had brought Mama, Barclay and, much to both Ned’s and Boyd’s displeasure, Sheriff Owens. 

Boyd stood up to introduce himself to Sheriff Owens, “Boyd Mosche. Pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m aware that you broke the window in hospital room 413?” Sheriff Owens said. 

Boyd gave him a toothy smile. “Unfortunately.”

Sheriff Owens sighed, “I’ll deal with that later.” Right now, we need to figure out what this thing is up to.”

Mama nodded. “What we need to do is figure out why this thing hates Ned so much.”

Ned gave a sheepish smile to the group. 

“Does anybody have any theories?” Mama asked the group. 

People stayed quiet for a little bit, obviously thinking. Ned was pretty sure he knew why, but he didn’t exactly want to explain to Mama what he had done while he was in the dark hotel. 

Eventually, Aubrey spoke up, “Maybe it’s because Ned saved Boyd? It didn’t like the fact that he took away a victim? I don’t know...”

“Maybe,” Mama said, “It might be just trying to target us, take us down one by one to weaken the group.”

“It might just hate the Narf Blaster,” Duck suggested. 

Boyd gave Ned one look, and just said, “You stole something from it, didn’t you?”

The room went eerily quiet. Ned gave an awkward chuckle. “Got it in one, old friend.”

“Ned Chicane, you- you stole from an abomination?” Mama demanded. “How stupid are you?”

Ned shrugged, “Pretty stupid.”

“Pray tell, why did you do that?” Mama asked. 

Ned thought for a moment. “I told you that when it took me into the rift, I was brought to an old hotel. It chased me up to the master suite... and there was this figure on the bed. It was wrapped up in all this silky stuff, they seemed to be trapped. I hid under the bed, and the abomination came in and fiddled with these weird orbs. There were about .... 120 of them? Maybe a bit less. I figured they were important, so I took one.” Ned wiggled his fingers on his free hand, “Sticky fingers.”

Barclay gave a heavy sigh. 

“Ned,” Mama said, “Why didn’t you mention this figure in the hotel before.” 

“I didn’t think it was that important,” Ned just said. He had other things on his mind at the time. Like getting out of there alive. 

“Ned, you do realize that could be a victim we need to save,” Mama said. She was rubbing her temples with her hands. “Okay. Now we gotta figure out how to get to that person in the hotel. We have to let that thing get close enough to us so it can pull us through the rift so we can get that person out of there.”

“I’ll do it,” Ned said. 

“No!” Three people shouted at once. Duck, Boyd, and Aubrey looked at each other for a moment, as if they were trying to silently decide who was going to speak next. 

Duck just turned to Ned, “Not to be blunt, but you’re already pretty... fucked up by this abomination. It’d be incredibly dangerous for you to do this. It’d be better for somebody else to go.”

“But the abomination is after me,” Ned pointed out, “If it’s going to grab anybody, it’s going to be me. Plus, I’ve been there before. I know exactly where to go.”

“Well shit,” Duck said. “I guess you’re right.”

Boyd looked distressed. “No! We are not letting you do this.”

“I don’t think you have a choice,” Ned said.

Boyd’s shoulders slumped. He was glaring at Ned when he said, “This is stupid, Ned.”

“I’m being reasonable,” Ned said, “I’ve had enough of being a coward. This thing has been tormenting me since it got here. I want to kill it.”

The aura in the room was incredibly uncomfortable. Nobody seemed to want to get in between Ned and Boyd. Boyd opened his mouth to say something, but then snapped it shut. He turned away from Ned. “Fine. But know I don’t support this in the slightest.”

“Fine,” Ned said. 

Mama coughed awkwardly, “Um. So. I’ll try to pull some strings to get Ned out as soon as possible. We probably shouldn’t leave Ned alone, though. It’s already come after him once. We should make sure he’s with somebody at all times.”

“I’ll stay,” both Boyd and Aubrey said. The two glared at each other, and then, in sync, said, “I’ll stay,” again. 

Ned sighed. “You both can stay. Two is better than one. I’m just going to be sleeping, nothing too exciting.”

“Well,” Mama said, “I’m going to go talk to some doctors. See you later.” 

She then left the room, Barclay following her. Before he left, Barclay gave Ned a small wave. Ned gave him one back. Sheriff Owens gave Ned a nod, before he, too, slipped out of the hospital room. Duck lingered behind. He looked nervous, shifting from foot to foot. “You gonna be okay?”

Ned gave Duck the thumbs up. “I’ve got a magician by my side, I’ll be good.”

“Alright,” Duck said, “Just don’t go breaking anymore windows.”

“I’ll try not to,” Boyd said with a smirk on his face. 

“Okay. I’ll see you back at the Lodge,” Duck said, and he left the room. 

Ned tried not to notice how uncomfortable the atmosphere in the room was. Boyd and Aubrey were sitting on opposite sides of him. Ned could tell that whenever he wasn’t looking, they were glaring at each other. Ned figured that they both had the right to not like each other, even if he wanted them to. Aubrey had sent Boyd to jail, and Boyd had helped burn down Aubrey’s house. 

Ned gave his best effort to remain conscious. He knew that he needed to sleep, but he couldn’t help but be paranoid about the abomination coming back. Even if Boyd and Aubrey were there, he was still afraid. It seemed like he had almost died every single day of this week.

Much to his dismay, his eyelids began to droop. He eventually gave up, and just closed his eyes. He was settling down into his bed when he heard Aubrey speak. 

“So,” Aubrey said, sounding terse, “How did you meet Ned?”

Ned tried to speak, but it sounded like incoherent garbles.

Boyd laughed. “We were robbing the same house. It was being fumigated, you see, so we were both wearing gas masks. We barely managed to escape the cops.”

Aubrey gave a small chuckle, “So you’ve been doing this for a while, then?”

“Yes,” Boyd said. 

“You must have a lot of memories together,” Aubrey said. 

“We do,” Boyd said. Ned could tell he was closing off. He didn’t blame him. Boyd probably would have rather not relive these memories, even if they had been pleasant at the time. Years had made them bitter. 

“What about the wedding ring you wear?” Aubrey asked.

Ned heard Boyd take in a sharp breath. Then, to Ned’s surprise, he began to speak. “I got married in Vegas.”

“Vegas?” Aubrey said. “Oh no!”

“Indeed,” Boyd said, “We were both drunk out of our minds. I hardly remember my vows. It was legally binding. He took my last name, even. We woke up with the rings on. We decided to stay married, though. We could have had it annulled but we didn’t. I guess it was going to happen regardless.”

“What happened to him?” Aubrey said quietly. 

Boyd gave a joyless laugh, “He left me.”

Ned’s heart rose into his throat. He wanted to say that he didn’t mean to leave. He had tried to get Boyd out of the car. He really had. But the door had been crumpled shut, and he was too much of a coward to stay and get caught with him. But Aubrey was there, and she didn’t need to know that. His mind was beginning to fade; he couldn’t stay awake much longer even if he tried. He was just going to have to live with the guilt for now. He had already been doing it for years; what were a couple more days to him? 

“I’m sorry,” Aubrey said, “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It’s okay,” Boyd said gently, “They were good memories until the end.”

Boyd continued to talk, but Ned couldn’t hear it anymore. He fell asleep with a foreboding feeling in his chest. He didn’t dream.

Ned woke up to a heavy feeling on his chest. He blearily opened his eyes, and saw that Aubrey was taking a nap while leaning on him. He smiled. His hand felt warm. He looked over to see Boyd nodding off, holding his hand. 

Boyd jerked awake at Ned’s movement, and immediately dropped his hand. 

“It’s okay,” Ned just said. 

Boyd looked away from Ned, and didn’t pick his hand back up. 

The two sat in silence, just listening to Aubrey’s relaxed breathing. Ned was content with just the silence. He didn’t expect things to miraculously smooth over in the course of one night, so he was fine with Boyd’s estranged affection. 

Ned was shocked when Boyd asked, “Where’s your ring?”

“My what?”

“Your wedding ring,” Boyd said, sounding exasperated. “You’re not wearing it. Did you pawn it off?”

Ned shook his head, “It’s in the pile of stuff you stole.”

“I see,” Boyd said. Ned wondered if he was hurt by this fact. 

“I didn’t want to wear it, since it would be hard to explain,” Ned said.

Boyd nodded. “It was tough in prison. Everybody asked me about my wife. Couldn’t exactly tell them I was gay, could I? I’d get the snot beaten out of me. A couple of people tried to steal it, you know.”

“Oh,” Ned said, not knowing what else to say.

Boyd chuckled humourlessly, “I nearly killed a guy when I woke up to him trying to take it.”

Ned frowned. He couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault. 

“I could wear it again,” Ned muttered, “if you’d like.”

“That would be nice,” Boyd said, so quietly Ned wasn’t even sure if he had actually said it. Boyd then changed the subject, “So. You’re cleared to back to the Lodge.” 

“The Lodge? Why not the Cryptonomica?” Ned said. 

“It’s safer,” Boyd replied. 

“I see,” Ned said. He didn’t want to argue that. Boyd was probably right anyways. “I’ll need a change of clothes.”

“Kirby dropped off some already,” Boyd said, gesturing to a bad he had hanging off the back of his chair. “I had called and asked him to.”

“Oh,” Ned said. “How is Kirby?”

“He’s a little shaken up,” Boyd answered, “Not every day your boss nearly dies.”

Ned shrugged. “He’d probably just be grateful that I wasn’t around.”

“Don’t talk like that,” Boyd said. He then stood up, “I’m going to call Ms. Cobb and tell the nurse you are ready to go.”

He left before Ned could protest. 

Ned sat there for a while, just watching Aubrey sleep. She stirred after a little while, lifting her head up sleepily. “What time is it?” 

“I have no idea,” Ned said. 

Aubrey craned her neck to look out of the small windows. “Looks like morning.”

“It probably is.” 

“Where’s Boyd?” 

“He left to go call Mama.”

“Ah,” Aubrey said. She tilted her neck to the side, and it made an audible cracking sound. “Y’know. He’s not that bad... even if he is a kleptomaniac.” 

“I guess you’re right,” Ned said. 

A nurse came into the room. She smiled brightly at Ned. “Hello, Mr. Chicane. I’m here to remove your IVs.”

Ned gave her a tense nod. He tried not to show how uncomfortable he was with this nurse. He couldn’t help it, though. The last ‘nurse’ who had come into his room had tried to kill him. 

“It’s okay,” Aubrey whispered, “If she tries anything, I’ll fireball her face.”

“Thanks,” Ned murmured back. 

“I’m so glad I got to meet you, Mr. Chicane,” The nurse said, “I’m a huge fan of Saturday Night Dead! Too bad you couldn’t do one this week, being in the hospital and all. Do you think you’ll be able to do one next week?”

“Oh definitely,” Ned said, relaxing a little bit. He closed his eyes when the nurse took out his IVs. 

“All done, Mr. Chicane,” he said. “You’re free to go!”

“Thank you,” Ned said. The nurse left the room. Ned turned to Aubrey, “I’m going to need to change out of this hospital gown.”

“You need any help?” Aubrey asked.

“No,” Ned said. 

“You’re just saying that because you don’t want me to see your dick,” Aubrey said. 

“Indeed I am!” Ned said, slowly getting to his feet. “Now leave me be!”

Aubrey laughed, and left the room. Ned struggled to zip open the bag with his one hand, but eventually got it open. Kirby had picked the most modern looking outfits Ned owned, much to Ned’s dismay. He unclipped his arm brace, and tried to move the arm with the broken collar bone. It hurt like a bitch.

It was easy getting his boxers and pants on, but he struggled to put on his shirt. He had it over his head, with one arm out, but it hurt to move his other arm enough to get it through the sleeve. 

“Aubrey?” Ned called out, “Aubrey I might actually need help.”

Boyd stepped into the room.

“Oh, you’re not Aubrey,” Ned said.

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Boyd retorted, a sly grin on his face. 

“Just help me,” Ned said. 

Boyd was surprisingly gentle as he coaxed Ned’s arm through the sleeve. Ned hissed and winced the whole time, but Boyd kept up a small string of soothing words. 

“There,” Boyd said, clipping Ned’s arm back into the brace. “I think you can just keep your arm out of your coat sleeve.”

“Thanks,” Ned said.

“It’s not a problem,” Boyd told him. “You ready to go?”

“God yes,” Ned said, “I’ve spent enough time in this hospital to last a lifetime.”

“Let’s hope you don’t have to come back,” Boyd said, and he opened the door for Ned.

Aubrey was waiting for him, a wheelchair at her feet. She gestured to the chair, “Come on, Ned.”

“Don’t make me do any wheelies,” Ned said. 

Aubrey giggled, “I make no promises.”

Aubrey only tried to make Ned do a wheelie once, and it was when they were out in the parking lot, away from the prying eyes of the doctors and nurses. Ned nearly fell out of the chair when she did it, but thought it was hilarious. Boyd seemed to think the opposite, but kept his mouth shut. 

Mama was waiting for them in her truck. “Heya Ned. Nice to see you out of that bed.”

“Nice indeed,” Ned said. Boyd helped Ned get up from the wheelchair.

“You’ll be riding in the front with me,” Mama told him, “Aubrey, Boyd, you’ll have to ride in the flatbed.”

“Awesome!” Aubrey said, before she left to go drop the wheelchair off at the front of the hospital. She returned a couple of minutes later, and immediately hopped into the flatbed. Boyd followed, and soon they were off.

Ned felt relieved to be out of the hospital, but couldn’t help but notice how awkward it was with Mama. She was probably still mad at him for stealing Shade Tree. 

“Um, Mama?” Ned said.

“Yeah Ned?” she kept her eyes on the road.

“I’m really sorry about Shade Tree,” Ned said.

Mama laughed. “It’s not Shade Tree I’m worried about, Ned. Your plan is plain ol’ stupid. I’d rather you just stay in the Lodge and forget about this abomination. But I can’t think of any other plan, so I guess we’ll have to do yours.”

Ned sighed, “It’s the only thing that’ll work.”

“Maybe so,” Mama said, “But, let me tell you this, Ned. I’ve seen a lot of people go. I don’t want to attend another funeral any time soon.”

Ned gave a small chuckle, “I don’t plan on dying yet, Mama.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Mama said. She paused, and then said, “Ned?”

“Yeah?”

“Steal from me again, and I’ll shoot ya.”

Ned smiled at Mama. He wasn’t sure if she was being serious or not. “I’ll try not to.”

“You damn better,” Mama said. 

The rest of the ride was quiet. Ned could hear Aubrey and Boyd talking from the flatbed. He wondered what they were talking about. They still didn’t seem to get along as well as Ned would have liked, but they were warming up to each other. 

They arrived at the Lodge. Mama helped Ned get out of the truck. Ned watched as Boyd offered a hand to Aubrey, who refused and jumped down into the snowbank nearby. Ned was glad that Aubrey was feeling better. A lot had happened over the past couple of days. 

Boyd walked over to Ned, extending his arm for Ned to lean on.

“I’m good,” Ned said, as he made his way up to the Lodge. It was a slow process, but Ned eventually made it all the way up the steps on his own. 

Barclay was waiting in the lobby for them, holding what looked like a tea tray. He smiled when Ned entered the building. “Glad you’re here.”

“Glad to be here, my friend!” Ned said, plopping down on the closest couch. 

“Tea anybody?” Barclay asked. 

“Sure!” Aubrey said, “Any chance there’s breakfast? I’m starving.”

“I could make some,” Barclay said.

“Do you need any help?” Boyd said.

Barclay shook his head, and left to go make breakfast. 

Barclay had just returned when the door to the Lodge had opened. Jake Cool Ice burst in, sounding out of breath. 

“Jake?” Mama said, standing up, “Jake, what’s wrong?”

Jake bent double, and then huffed out, “The... Hornets... are....”

“What are they doing?” Aubrey demanded.

“They’re.... at the .... clearing... with the... Arch....” Jake said, struggling to catch his breath, “They’re losing.”

“Losing what?” Mama asked.

Jake straightened up, “The abomination. It’s there. It’s fighting them.” 

“Oh shit,” Aubrey said. 

Jake looked panicked when he repeated, “They’re losing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks yet again to Lexi! She's a fantastic friend and a brilliant beta reader!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hollis and Keith fight the abomination. Aubrey is hot tempered. Ned rescues an old friend.

“Okay,” Mama said, “We have to be smart about this. We can’t just go charging in without a plan.”

“Here’s the plan,” Aubrey said, “We go in there, get the Hornets out, and try to kill the thing.”

“Alright,” Mama said, “I’m gonna go get Duck. Jake, you lead the others to the Hornets.” She paused, and looked at Ned. “You try to get that person out of the hotel. It’s not really a good plan, but it’s what we gotta to work with.”

Mama grabbed her truck keys and made to go outside. She stopped, and turned to Boyd, “Do not, under any circumstances, mention the Arch to anybody there.”

Boyd nodded. Ned got the distinct feeling that Boyd didn’t understand what Mama was saying, but was too intimidated by her to ask about it. 

Mama left the lobby. Aubrey stood up, and put her hand on Jake’s shoulder, trying to comfort him. He seemed to be on the verge of an anxiety attack. 

Ned pushed himself off of the couch. He tried not to show that he was in pain, but he caught Boyd looking at him. 

“Let’s go!” Aubrey said.

“I’m going! I'm going!,” Ned responded.

“Not fast enough!” Aubrey said, pushing on his shoulder. 

“Hey! You break a couple of ribs and-”

“We don’t have time for this,” Boyd cut him off. “Aubrey, go ahead with your friend. Ned and I will catch up.”

“Gotcha,” Aubrey said. She took Jake by the wrist, and the two of them sped off towards the woods. 

Ned tried to walk as fast as he could. Boyd stayed by his side, almost as if he was expecting Ned to fall. It pissed Ned off. It wasn’t even his legs that were hurt. He needed to keep walking to prove Boyd wrong. 

They reached the tree line, following Aubrey and Jake’s footprints in the snow. Boyd was surprisingly quiet. He pulled out a cigarette. His lighter sparked a few times before it actually worked, and Boyd breathed out a plume of smoke. 

“You know that’s horrible for your health,” Ned said.

Boyd gave Ned a withering glare. “Calms the nerves.”

Oh. Ned hadn’t even considered that Boyd might be afraid of the abomination. He figured it was warranted; the thing had almost killed him. Thinking back, fear was probably what kept Boyd up the first night he was at the Cryptonomica.

Ned chuckled awkwardly, “I suppose it does.”

Boyd shook his head. “How do you even do this? You’ve said this isn’t the first time you’ve fought one of these things. So. How do you keep fighting them?”

Ned thought for a moment. “Well, somebody has to!” he laughed, “It helps that I have good people to do it with.” 

Boyd frowned. “You’ve changed.”

Ned furrowed his brows at Boyd. “What d’you mean?”

“You never were the type to have friends,” Boyd said. Ned tried to not be insulted. Boyd was right, Ned never really had any friends in his adult life. At least until he had met Boyd. But that still didn’t mean that Boyd could point it out like that. 

“Neither were you,” Ned said.

“Still am,” Boyd said.

“Hardly,” Ned said with a snort.

“Ned,” Boyd said seriously, stopping in his tracks. “I am not a-” he stopped. “We don’t have time for this.”

He trudged off into the snow, leaving Ned behind. Ned followed behind him, his ribs screaming in protest as he lightly jogged. “Hey. Hey. What’s up?”

“It’s not the time,” Boyd just said.

“Alright,” Ned said. He decided to change the subject. “Where’s my Narf Blaster?”

Boyd sighed, and pulled the toy gun from his jacket. Ned made to grab it, and Boyd pulled it away. 

“I’m gonna need it back,” Ned said. 

“I don’t agree with this,” Boyd said, holding the Narf Blaster over his head. Ned was tempted to try to jump and get it, even though it would make him look like a child. He also knew that it would hurt like mad if he even tried to jump, so he kept his feet planted on the ground.

“Doesn’t matter,” Ned said, “If you keep it, I’m definitely going to die. If you give it back to me, I’ll only probably die.”

Boyd gave a defeated huff, and gave Ned the Narf Blaster. “You better not die.”

“I’ll try my best,” Ned said, and he quickened his pace. 

They reached the clearing to find total bedlam. There were unconscious, bloodied bodies surrounding the gate, staining the snow red. There were a few still left fighting. Ned recognized one of them as Hollis, the leader of the group. Ned saw another, Keith, on the ground behind Hollis. The abomination was towering over them, in its monstrous Bigfoot form. Aubrey was among them, kneeling down next to an unconscious Hornet, her hands glowing softly orange. Jake was standing at the edge of the treeline, nervously biting his fingernails. He looked like he wanted to help, but had no idea how to do so. 

“Hollis!” Aubrey shouted getting up from the ground, “Get the fuck back!”

Hollis paid no heed. They stood in front of Keith, hoisting their rebar club up over their shoulder. They swung, colliding with the Bigfoot’s face. The abomination didn’t even seem to flinch, and swung at Hollis, sending them flying. They hit the snow hard, and stayed down.

Keith was scrambling backwards on all fours as the abomination slowly walked towards him. Keith’s hand slipped in the snow, and he fell to the ground. The abomination easily overtook him. Keith pulled what looked like a carving knife. His hands were shaking as he held it up. 

The abomination leaned over him with somewhat of a smile on its face. Hollis screamed from their spot in the snow as the Bigfoot’s leg came crashing down upon Keith. There was a horrendous crack and Keith shrieked. He then went limp in the snow. 

Hollis pushed themselves up with their rebar club. Blood was trickling down their forehead. They took a step towards the abomination, “You son of a bitch! I’m gonna kill you!” 

Aubrey ran over towards Hollis. “Just stay back! You stupid idiot!”

“Fuck off!” Hollis told Aubrey, “This thing... killed my people! You don’t get to tell me to stay back!”

“Fine!” Aubrey said, “Just let me heal you!”

Hollis looked confused for a couple of moments as Aubrey’s hands lit up orange again. “What the....”

“Yes, I can do magic,” Aubrey said. She then turned her head towards Ned, “Get Keith before that thing kills him!”

“Boyd!” Ned said, “Get Keith.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Ned,” Boyd said, but he ran into the fray anyways. 

Ned pulled up the Narf Blaster and began to fire at the abomination. A couple of the lasers hit, making the creature reel back. Ned knew that he needed to provoke it. He needed it to attack him. Boyd had no weapon, so if the abomination decided Ned wasn’t good enough, it could easily just kill the two men. Boyd reached Keith. Ned watched as Boyd checked for a pulse. 

“The kid’s alive!” Boyd shouted, and he began to try to drag Keith away from the abomination. 

The abomination lifted its hands above its head, ready to swing down on Boyd and Keith. Ned took this opportunity to shoot the Bigfoot in the chest. 

“Yeah! How do you like that, ya bastard!” Ned called at it. The abomination’s head snapped from Keith to Ned. There was a glint in its eyes as a rift opened up in front of it, and it slipped through.

Ned didn’t have to guess where it had gone, as Boyd yelled at him to move. Ned didn’t. He turned around, looking at the creature square in the face, and charged at it. The momentum swung the two of them back into the rift. Ned turned his head; looking back out at the bright snowy world for what he thought could be his last time. Boyd was there, reaching for him. Ned smiled, and faced his fate.

He fell onto the dusty floor of the same hotel he had been in before. The creature tumbled a few feet, crashing into the wall. Dust fell from the ceiling as the abomination hit the wall. 

Ned got to his feet, and booked it towards the lobby of the hotel. He could hear the creature picking itself off the floor. He made it to the stairs, taking them two at a time, ignoring the pain in his chest. He didn’t know if running could break his already broken ribs, but it certainly felt that way. He got up to the landing, and saw the abomination lumbering towards him. Ned turned towards the master bedroom. He bolted down the hallway. 

The being was still on top of the bed, covered in the bright silk threads. They weren’t moving, but Ned could see the flickering of their memories being played back at them. He dropped the Narf Blaster, and used his only free hand to tear at the threads. They were thick. Ned felt as though no matter how many he pulled out, there were always more. Ned grabbed another fistful of the threads, tearing them away. He was beginning to see the outline of a face.

Ned was yanked backwards from the being on the bed. A large hand was wrapped around his throat and lifted him off the ground. He tried to struggle; he tried to get the Narf Blaster off of the floor. But it was all in vain. The abomination’s grip on his throat tightened. Ned’s breaths were wheezy, and he was barely getting any oxygen to his lungs. The hand fully closed around his throat, and no matter how hard his lungs tried, he could get no air.

Black spots began to litter his vision and the panic set in. He was going to die. He was going to die and the last thing he was going to see was this shitty hotel room. Everything went dark. Ned could still feel the hand around his neck. He could still feel his lungs trying to expand. He could still feel the burning in his chest. He didn’t think that dying would be this painful. He just wanted it to be over. 

Ned heard a shriek, and then hit the floor with a loud thump. He gasped for air, curling into a fetal position. He tried to make out what was happening. All he could see were shapes; one white blur and another brown. There was screaming coming from one of them, but Ned couldn’t tell which one. His eyes looked down to the floor, and he saw something glinting red there. He focused on it, trying to get fully conscious. 

It was a pair of glasses. 

Ned scrapped himself off of the floor, crawling on his hands and knees towards the Narf Blaster. One of the creatures fighting behind him went flying overhead, crashing down the stairs. Ned crawled faster towards the Narf Blaster. He was just about to grab it when a hand swooped down and pulled it away from him. 

Ned was then pulled upwards and set in a standing position. He wobbled a bit, but the arms around him supported him.

“Thank you, Ned,” A familiar voice said. “I’ve been trapped here for quite some time. I can handle myself now, so I’d suggest you run.”

Ned blinked, looking at the creature. He tried to remember where he had seen it before, but his brain was still muddled with pain. 

“Ned,” the creature said, “Ned. You need to get out of here.”

“Yea...” Ned said. 

The creature handed him the Narf Blaster, “Oh, can you do me a favour?”

Ned nodded. 

The creature stooped down picked the glasses off the floor. It gently folded them, and slipped them onto Ned’s shirt. “Please take these back with you. I’ll be joining you shortly. Now, excuse me.”

The creature seemed to float out of the room with surprising speed. Ned stood there for a couple of minutes, trying to process what had just happened. He looked down at his shirt, where the red glasses were dangling from. The fog in his brain cleared. Oh. Indrid. The Mothman. He had just saved the Mothman from an abomination. 

Ned tried not to slump to the floor. He was so tired, and in so much pain. He knew he needed to get out of here. He could hear wood snap from below as the two creatures fought. He knew that he was going to have to slip past them somehow. 

He began to limp down the stairs. He had to take it slow, despite his instincts telling him to run. He got to the landing of the stairs, and watched momentarily as Indrid and the abomination fought. It seemed like Indrid was winning, but Ned couldn’t be certain. Indrid picked the abomination up, held it aloft over his head, and threw him into the far wall. Ned was suddenly grateful that Indrid was on his side, as he continued down the stairs. 

“You should get going,” Indrid said, sounding a little out of breath. 

“Yeah,” Ned said. “Uh... Thanks, by the way.”

If Indrid could look confused in his Mothman form, Ned figured it would look something like this. 

“For uh, saving me,” Ned said.

“The feeling is mutual,” Indrid said. “Now, please get going before it tries to kill you again.” 

“Alright,” Ned said, and he turned to go into the rift room. 

There weren’t that many rifts open. Ned recognized one as the motel parking lot, where he had saved Boyd from. The one that was closest, however, displayed the snowy field where Ned had previously been. He could see a couple of shapes through it. He decided it would probably be the best if he went through that one. Ned heard another crashing sound behind him, and decided that it would be best for him to get out.

He stepped through the rift, and was blinded by the brightness of the snow. After a couple of moments of blinking, Ned could make out the scene. Aubrey was across the field, her hands glowing orange as she healed another injured Hornet. He looked around for Boyd, and found him kneeling next to Keith. Keith was sitting up, looking pale, but talking back. Ned stumbled towards them.

“-clean break,” Boyd commented, “No bones sticking through. You should recover soon.”

“I literally just recovered from breaking my other leg,” Keith complained. 

Boyd gave him a small smile, “Well, maybe you shouldn’t be fighting monsters-” Boyd stopped, looking up at Ned. He got to his feet, and eyed Ned. “You look like shit.”

“I feel like shit,” Ned said.

“You weren’t gone for that long,” Boyd said. 

“Well,” Ned said, “I did what I was supposed to do.”

“Which was?”

“Nearly die.”

Boyd frowned. He looked like he was going to comment on something, when somebody else burst through the trees.

“Where’s the abomination?” Duck demanded, holding Beacon in his hand. 

“It’s gon-” Ned was cut off by a shriek, as one of the rifts opened behind him. Boyd tackled him to the snow as the two creatures flew overhead, barely missing them. They crashed into a tree across the way. Ned looked up from his spot on the ground. “What the-”

He watched as Indrid withdrew from the tree, both sets of his arms around the abomination. He took off into the sky. Ned watched as he climbed higher and higher, carrying the struggling abomination with him. Ned could hardly see Indrid against the pale clouds, so when the abomination started to fall back down, Ned thought that Indrid had been knocked unconscious. As they neared the ground, Ned could see the Mothman flying next to the abomination as it plummeted towards the ground. 

They were about twenty feet from the ground when the abomination opened a rift and disappeared into it. Indrid pulled back, causing the snow underneath him to fly up. He landed next to where Ned and Boyd were lying in the snow.

“Well,” Indrid said, “That didn’t work out quite the way I wanted it to.”

“Is that-” Boyd started.

“Yes, he’s the Mothman,” Ned said. 

He watched as Keith turned towards Indrid and pointed a finger at him accusingly for a couple of second. Keith just said, “I fucking knew it. I fucking knew that was the Mothman,” before he collapsed back onto the snow. 

“Would you like some help?” Indrid asked, extending one of his pairs of arms down to Ned and Boyd. Boyd refused, slowing getting up and dusting the snow off of himself. Ned took Indrid’s help, and basically let Indrid haul him off of the ground. 

“Thanks,” Ned said.

“Thank you,” Indrid said, “Now, may I have my glasses back?”

Ned looked down at the glasses on his shirt. He was surprised that they hadn’t been broken when Boyd had tackled him. He took them off of his shirt and handed them to Indrid.

Within a flash, Indrid was no longer the towering Mothman. He looked the same as Ned remembered, though his white hair was a bit longer. 

Boyd gave Ned a confused look.

“I’ll explain,” Ned whispered.

“You fucking better,” Boyd muttered back. 

Hollis had stormed over to where Indrid was, holding their rebar club over their head. 

“Wait wait wait!” Aubrey said, running across the field. She put her hand on Hollis’s shoulder. “He’s a good guy!”

“How- what- who-” Hollis stammered out. They dropped their rebar club. “What the fuck?”

“You’re way out of your depth,” Aubrey said.

“I’m way out of my depth?” Hollis demanded.

“You almost died!” Aubrey said, “Keith almost died! How many others would have died if we hadn’t showed up?”

Hollis glared at Aubrey for a couple of moments, before they stooped down, picked up their club, and stormed off.

“Hollis! Wait! Where’re you going? That thing is still out there!” Keith struggled to get to his feet, but as soon as he put weight on his broken leg, he collapsed.

Aubrey walked over to him. Keith recoiled from her. “I’m not gonna blast your face. Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Keith said nervously.

Aubrey smiled, “Maybe.”

Jake came rushing over from the sidelines. He, too, tried to talk to Hollis, but they ignored him and disappeared into the woods. He turned towards Aubrey, “I can fix this...”

“It’s okay,” Aubrey said, “Just help me with Keith. We need to get him to the hospital. Snowmobile accident.”

“But it was the-” Jake said. “Oh yeah. Snowmobile accident.” 

Ned watched them help Keith limp back towards the Lodge. He thought he could hear Keith mutter an apology to Jake. 

“We should probably head back,” Boyd said. “It’s fucking cold.”

“Yeah,” Ned said. He turned and leaned against Boyd. “I’m so tired.”

“Get some sleep, old man,” Boyd said, and he gently started to help Ned walk back. 

“I’m not that old!” Ned said.

“Sure thing,” Boyd said. He sounded distracted. 

Ned looked up at Boyd. He couldn’t help but notice the way Boyd was staring at the bruises forming on his neck. He decided not to say anything about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Lexi yet again for beta'ing this chapter! Without her constant encouragement, this chapter would have been later than it already is!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group goes to the abandoned hotel. Pizza is eaten. Ned spills a secret. Boyd says some things.

Duck had stayed over at the Lodge that night. They woke early the next morning, much to Ned’s displeasure, and went into the basement to make a plan. Ned was the last to arrive, carrying a cup of overly sweet coffee (even for his tastes). Barclay was sitting across from a very tired looking Aubrey. Boyd was, to Ned’s surprise, talking to Indrid. He looked uncomfortable as he talked to the Mothman, but Ned knew he was too polite to say anything rude to Indrid.

“Alright,” Mama said. She was standing in front of the white board, propping herself up with her cane. She had a white board marker in her other hand, and was adding to what they had already written. Ned tried not to notice that Duck’s suggestion of “ALIENS” was now twice as large and circled with different colours. If Mama noticed it, she paid it no mind. She was too busy adding “INJURED” and “NO LONGER HAS FUTURE VISION” to the weakness category of the creature. 

“So,” Ned said, “What’s the plan?”

“Well, today’s the last day we got to kill this thing,” Duck said, “Before, y’know, it can just straight up leave Kepler.”

“Yeah,” Aubrey said, “We’ve narrowed down abandoned hotels where this thing could be, and we’re gonna go in and fuck it up.”

“Indeed,” Boyd said. 

“You’re still going to come?” Ned asked. 

Boyd gestured to the shotgun strapped to his back. “Ms. Cobb has lent me her gun for this purpose.”

“I see,” Ned said. “You know how to fire that?”

“Ned,” Boyd said, “I’ve shot a gun before.”

“Didn’t think they even had guns in England,” Ned muttered. 

Boyd rolled his eyes, “In any case, I’ll actually be armed this time.” 

“Well, that’ll be handy,” Ned said. 

“Was that a pun?” Aubrey said, “Because if it was, it was one of the worst ones I’ve ever heard.”

“No, friend Aubrey, it was simply a... slip of the tongue,” Ned said. Aubrey looked like she didn’t believe him, but she didn’t say anything more. Ned smiled at the group, “So when are we heading out?”

The rest of the group looked at each other. Mama turned towards the whiteboard. Indrid suddenly got fascinated with his shoes. Barclay was staring at his watch like he couldn’t read the time properly. Duck nudged Aubrey. Aubrey elbowed Duck back. Hard, apparently, as Duck winced. Boyd sighed. 

“Ned,” He started.

“No,” Ned just said.

“Pardon?”

“You’re not leaving me behind,” Ned said sternly, “We’ve already had this discussion, and frankly, it’s getting tiring. I’m coming to kill this bastard and there’s nothing you guys can do to stop me.”

“We could break your legs!” Aubrey piped up. 

Ned tried to glower at Aubrey, but his smile kept creeping up on the corners of his mouth. 

“We’re not going to actually break your legs,” Aubrey said, “You’re already broken enough as it is.”

“Thanks, Aubrey,” Ned said sarcastically. Aubrey gave him the thumbs up. 

Boyd was not looking impressed. Ned could tell that Boyd just wanted him to stay behind, even without him saying anything. But Ned also knew that it was his sole duty to annoy the shit out of Boyd. Besides, he couldn’t just abandon his friends. This fight was going to be brutal, even if the abomination was already hurting.

“Alright,” Duck said, “You can come. Only because you’re the only one of us who owns a car.”

“Mama owns a car,” Aubrey pointed out.

“It can only sit two people,” Duck said.

“True,” Aubrey said. 

“Ned,” Mama said, “You sure you’re up to this? Nobody would think any less of you if you sat this one out.”

“I have to,” Ned said. “Besides, this fucker broke a lot of bones in my body. It’s only fair if I get to kill it.”

Mama shook her head. “I guess. Remember what I said in the truck, right?”

“Yes,” Ned said, “No funerals anytime soon, Mama.”

“There better not be,” Mama told him.

There was an awkward silence. Barclay sneezed. 

“Alright,” Duck said after a while, “Let’s get going. We still gotta find out which of these hotels the abomination is in.”

“I call shotgun!” Aubrey cried as she stood up.

“I call shotgun.” Boyd said. He shifted the shotgun on his back.

“Hardy har,” Aubrey said, giving Boyd the finger. “I still get to sit in the front.”

“Well, I call driving,” Ned said. 

“No you don’t,” Boyd told him. He pulled out the keys of the food truck from his pocket, “You have one arm. You can’t drive.”

“Well,” Duck said, “I guess it’s you and me in the back.”

“Great,” Ned said. 

“Oh,” Mama said, “One more thing. Boyd.”

“Yes?” Boyd said. Ned noticed that Boyd looked nervous. Mama was intimidating, so Ned didn’t blame him for that. 

“If you try any funny business, I will personally mess you up,” Mama told him. 

“Alright, ma’am,” Boyd said. He glanced over at Ned. Ned shrugged. Mama was probably being serious. Ned wasn’t going to get in the way of Mama if and when she extracted her revenge. 

They loaded up into the food truck. Ned made a mental note to add more seats in the back, as he and Duck had to crouch-sit. Duck seemed used to it, probably from skateboarding. Ned held onto the side of the truck to prevent himself from falling every time they turned. 

“So,” Duck said.

“So,” Ned responded.

“Boyd’s not so bad,” Duck said, “Pretty tough.”

“Prison’ll do that to you,” Ned said. 

“Nah,” Duck said, “I feel like he just acts like it most of the time. But damn, you corner that guy and he’ll mess you up.”

Ned nodded. He had seen Boyd fight before. Not just the abomination, but normal people too. He always won. Ned always figured it was just a part of Boyd. He had never even considered that it might have been a front. 

“Good to have him on our side,” Duck said. 

“I suppose,” Ned said, “He did steal my stuff.”

“He gave it back, didn’t he?” Duck said.

Ned chuckled, “After a while.” 

“There ya go,” Duck said. “He’s not so bad.”

Ned was inclined to agree, but he didn’t say anything. 

The food truck stopped suddenly, sending both Duck and Ned falling on their asses. Ned pounded on the wall between the front of the car and the back. “What the hell?”

Boyd’s voice was muffled by the wall, but Ned could still make it out as he said, “Miss Little says she feels like this is the hotel.”

“Why’d you brake so hard?” Ned demanded.

“For fun,” Boyd said. 

“Really, why?” Ned said.

“I wasn’t paying attention, and almost missed the exit to the hotel,” Boyd said. 

“That was smart.”

“Shut up.”

“You two bicker like an old married couple,” Aubrey’s muffled voice came from the passenger side. Ned was glad Aubrey couldn’t see him, because he had flushed red.

“We do,” Boyd said, “Let’s get out.”

Duck helped Ned slide out of the food truck. It wasn’t that much of a jump, but the help was appreciated. Ned was pretty sure his balanced was a little messed up, seeing as he only had one available arm. 

Ned looked at the worn down hotel. It didn’t look like much; just a rotting old building that was boarded up. Ned supposed he hadn’t really seen the outside, so he couldn’t confirm or deny if this was their building. 

“Aubrey, you say you feel like this is the hotel?” Ned asked.

“Yeah,” Aubrey said. She wiggled her fingers, “Magic stuff.”

“Magic stuff?” Boyd repeated, a brow raised.

“We’ll explain later,” Duck said.

“There’s been a lot of that,” Boyd said, “but not much explaining has happened.”

“If we survive this, I’ll explain everything,” Ned said, pulling the Narf Blaster out of the truck. 

“I’ll hold you to that,” Boyd said.

They decided it would be best to enter from the back door as it minimized the likelihood of the cops being called. Ned couldn’t pick the lock, so they had to wait for Boyd to do it. He wasn’t as fast as Ned was, but Aubrey and Duck didn’t seem to mind. Ned tried to not make snide comments about it. He didn’t want to wind Boyd up. They were about to go fight an abomination, after all.

Once the chain and lock fell to the floor, they just stared at the door.

“You get it,” Duck said.

“I’m the one with a broken collar bone,” Ned said, “You should go first, Duck.”

“I’m no longer invincible,” Duck whispered, “Aubrey should get it.”

“I’m-” 

Aubrey was cut off when Boyd kicked in the door. He turned to the group, and gave a small bow, “After you.”

“Alright,” Ned said. He stepped into the dark din that was the hotel. It smelled strongly of rotting wood, musk, and mold. All of these things reminded Ned of the place in the rifts. Part of him hoped that they had gotten the wrong hotel, but as his eyes adjusted to the light, he recognized the building. The reception desk was smashed in, probably from when Indrid and the abomination were fighting. Ned ventured, looking around for the creature. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Boyd standing behind him. Boyd pointed up the stairs. 

Ned looked up, and saw the creature. It shrieked at them, and came down the stairs; charging at the group. Boyd quickly moved out of the way, but Ned stood his ground, and fired the Narf Blaster directly between the creature’s forehead. 

It unfortunately didn’t stop it, and Ned was hit full on. It sent him backwards, crashing into one of the walls. The wind was knocked out of him, and he struggled to get up. 

He heard Boyd yell, and then saw the bright flash of gunpowder. The shotgun shot echoed loudly around the room. Ned pulled himself off of the floor in time to see the abomination grasp the shotgun barrel with one large fist. It crunched the barrel in its fingers, and ripped the gun from Boyd’s grasp. Boyd bent down and grabbed a floorboard. He pulled back and hit the abomination over the head with it. The abomination reeled back, and punched Boyd square in the chest. Boyd went flying into the stairs. He crumpled to the ground, and did not move.

“FUCK!” Aubrey shouted, pulling out her knife. She threw it at the creature, nailing it in one of its eyes. The abomination screeched, bringing up its hands to cover the eye. Aubrey cursed, as she could not withdraw her knife. 

Duck had pulled Beacon from his belt in this time. 

“Oooh yessss,” Beacon said, “Battle! The feel of the enemy on my blade, tearing through its flesh! This will be delicious!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Duck told the sword, and he whipped it across the creature’s back.

Ned used this as an opportunity to get over to Boyd. He knew he wasn’t supposed to move people who had been hurt, so he just gently nudged Boyd. “Hey, hey buddy.”

Boyd’s head lolled to the side. Ned was about to panic when he noticed the steady rise and fall of Boyd’s chest. He was just unconscious.

“Okay,” Ned said, “You stay here... try not to die... yeah... that sounds good. Okay.”

Ned got to his feet, aiming the Narf Blaster. He shot the creature in the chest. The abomination made to swing at Ned. In the time it took for the arm to reach Ned, it had disintegrated, disappearing into light. The creature looked momentarily confused as the rest of its form began to turn to dust around it. It let out a roar, and tried to desperately reform its body. Ned shot at it again, and the abomination turned to dust. They watched in silence as the creature’s form disappeared, leaving behind only a four-armed construct made of light. 

The creature looked at Ned, and smiled. Within a blink, it was gone. 

“Holy shit,” Aubrey said. 

Ned collapsed to the floor next to Boyd. 

“Ned!” Aubrey said.

“I’m fine,” Ned lied. His ribs were killing him. His collarbone felt like he had snapped it in half again. He knew he probably hadn’t, but getting thrown into a wall did not do any good. 

“Is Boyd dead?” Aubrey asked, kneeling down next to Ned. 

“No,” Ned said, “I don’t think so.”

“Want me to try to heal him?” Aubrey said. 

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” Aubrey said, “Don’t get mad if it doesn’t work.” 

“I won’t,” Ned told her. 

Aubrey focused in, her hands glowing orange. Ned watched as the light spread to Boyd, lingered for a moment, and then disappeared.

“Did it work?” Ned said.

“I think so?” Aubrey said, “I don’t know. This is kinda new.” 

Boyd stirred. Ned moved closer to him. “Hey, hey Boyd.”

“W-what?” Boyd murmured, “Are... are we dead?”

Ned laughed. “Not yet, you old coot.” 

“Ah,” Boyd said. “Feels like it.”

“Um, not to be a downer, but like, we should get going?” Duck said, scooping the broken shotgun off the floor. “There’s houses nearby and the gun shot might have made somebody call the police?”

“Oh shit,” Aubrey said, standing up, “Fuck the cops.”

“Fuck the cops indeed,” Boyd said as he tried to get to his feet. “Fuck that hurts.”

“Now you know how it feels,” Ned said.

“Wish I didn’t,” Boyd muttered. 

“Can you walk?” Duck asked. Boyd nodded. “Okay, let’s get going!”

They filed out of the hotel. Duck insisted on driving, since both Ned and Boyd were out of commission. Aubrey helped Ned into the car, but Boyd refused any help and got in on his own. Ned sat down on the floor of the food truck. Once the back doors were closed, Boyd curled up next to him.

“You okay?” Ned asked.

“No,” Boyd said. “Almost died. Hurts a lot. Fuck the cops.”

Ned laughed again, “I think you hit your head.”

“Yeah,” Boyd said.

“NED!” Aubrey’s voice came from the front.

“WHAT?” Ned called back.

“CAN WE GET PIZZA?” she yelled.

“SURE!” Ned shouted back.

Boyd winced. “Too loud.”

“I think you’re concussed,” Ned commented.

“Mhm,” Boyd said, resting his face on Ned’s shoulder. “Pizza is good.”

“Pizza won’t fix a concussion,” Ned said.

“Still good though,” Boyd said. 

They were driving back into town when police sirens came past them, towards the direction of the hotel. Ned looked down at Boyd, who didn’t even seem to mind. He was just blankly staring at the floor. Ned reminded himself to look up the symptoms of a concussion once they got back to the Cryptonomica. 

They pulled up to the Pizza Hut. Boyd still insisted on getting out of the car without help, but Ned hovered over him to ensure that he wouldn’t fall. They got into the store, and Boyd pulled out a wallet. “I’ll get the pizza.”

“Dude, are you sure?” Aubrey asked, “You can like, barely walk.”

“I’m getting the pizza,” Boyd told her. “I owe you guys that much.”

“Alright, we’ll find a table,” Aubrey said. Boyd walked towards the counter. Aubrey glanced at Ned, “Are you sure he’s going to be okay?”

Ned shrugged, “He’s probably going to have to lie down for a long while once we get to the Cryptonomica.”

“So he’s staying with you?” Aubrey waggled her eyebrows. 

Duck groaned. “Aubrey please.”

“Duck, I need to know if they’re fucking, okay?” Aubrey said.

Ned choked on his spit. “Aubrey!”

“Are you fucking?” Aubrey demanded.

“That’s none of your business!” Ned told her.

“You know he’s married,” Aubrey said, “You’re a homewrecker.”

“You know he’s married to me?” Ned said without thinking.

“WHAT!” Aubrey shouted, raising her hands in the air. A couple people in the Pizza Hut turned to look at the group. Boyd started walking towards them with a box of pizza. Aubrey leaned across the table and whispered, “You’re not fucking getting out of this one, Ned. I’m going to find out everything.”

“Fine,” Ned said. “Just later, okay?”

“Fine,” Aubrey said, crossing her arms over her chest, “I will be in touch, Ned. Don’t you forget.”

“I most definitely will not,” Ned said.

Boyd sat down, flipping open the box of pizza.

“Pineapple?” Aubrey said, “What the fuck? I trusted you!”

“Pineapple’s good,” Ned said, taking a slice.

Aubrey took a slice and began to pick off all the pineapple. “I hate this family.” 

Duck laughed, “It’s not that bad, Aubrey.”

“It’s worse than bagged milk,” Aubrey said, “You know Canadians have that, right? It’s messed up. But not as messed up as pineapple on pizza.”

Boyd shook his head, taking a slice. Ned kept a close eye on Boyd. To his surprise, Boyd seemed almost fine, just a little out of it. He watched as Boyd sneakily picked off the pineapple on the pizza slice. Ned furrowed his brows. Why would Boyd order pineapple on pizza if he wasn’t going to eat it? 

The answer came to Ned slower than he would have cared to admit. Oh. It was because Boyd remembered Ned loved pineapple. Ned was surprised that even in his concussed state, and after so many years, Boyd still remembered that. 

The group finished the pizza, Aubrey leaving her pineapple chunks in a formation that said “SCREW PINEAPPLE” in the cardboard box. 

Duck first dropped Aubrey off at Amnesty Lodge. Ned and Boyd waited in the car as Duck and Aubrey talked to Mama. Ned was glad he didn’t see Mama’s face when she was handed back her broken shotgun. He was also glad that the shotgun no longer worked, because he was afraid Mama might’ve shot them when she found it was broken. 

Duck came back into the car, “I’m gonna drop myself off. You okay to drive to the Cryptonomica, Ned?”

“Yeah, it’s not too far,” Ned said.

“Okay.”

Ned and Boyd stayed in the back of the vehicle until they reached Duck’s place. Boyd needed some coaxing to get off the floor of the food truck and into the front seat, but he got there eventually. Duck waved goodbye as Ned pulled out. 

“So,” Ned said, instinctively driving to the Cryptonomica. “Let’s get you some rest.”

Boyd didn’t say anything, he just stared out the window. 

“You okay?” Ned asked.

“Yeah,” Boyd said. “Will be.”

“Okay,” Ned said. 

They drove the rest of the way in silence. As they pulled up to the Cryptonomica, Boyd reached out and grabbed Ned by the arm. 

Ned stopped, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know if I can leave you when I know you’re going to be fighting monsters,” Boyd said. “You could die.”

“You almost did,” Ned pointed out.

“So did you,” Boyd said. “I can’t let that happen again.”

“Then don’t,” Ned said, “We can talk details later. Just stay here. We are married, after all.”

Boyd smiled, “I thought you’d forgotten.”

“Not a chance,” Ned said, hopping out of the car.

Boyd followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everybody who stuck through this until the end! I appreciate you all for reading this. Special thanks to Lexi for beta reading this chapter. Due to prodding by my dearest friend, I may upload a couple of fluff one-shots involving this AU on my tumblr. I'm not sure if I'm going to post them here, but who knows. 
> 
> Thanks again for reading. I hope you have a wonderful day!

**Author's Note:**

> Ask me questions at cryptid-cryptonomica.tumblr.com! I'll also post chapter updates there! Thanks for reading!


End file.
